Women’s Game in Focus: Wales captain and Bristol back row Siwan Lillicrap

Wales captain Siwan Lillicrap would love to see Welsh teams introduced into the Premier 15s when the league re-tenders in two years' time.

Bath and London Irish have recently declared their intention to join but Welsh clubs could also be permitted should the league expand into the oft mooted British league.

“My opinion as a Welsh person and player is that it would be outstanding,” says Lillicrap. “There is talk now that the Allianz is the best women's club competition in the world and I absolutely agree with that. The level of competition, the amount of international players that play in the league.

“A GB style league would be more appealing again to sponsors and it could enhance the competition as well. There are many perks to that in my opinion.

“It's ring-fenced for another two years and who knows what will happen after that. But I think if people are exploring those opportunities I can only see positives as a player and Welsh person as well.”

There is change coming to Lillicrap's club as they have appointed a new boss in former Harlequins hooker Dave Ward. This week his wife, Abbie Ward, and her Quins teammmate, England scrum-half Leanne Riley, also joined Bears.

Head coach Ward has a multitude of ideas but one of his main priorities is strengthening the one club mentality at Bristol. Lillicrap said: “It's how we can really kick on and progress further as a club. It's an elite rugby environment. There's so much learning that we can do when you tap into each other's knowledge and expertise.

“Dave's going along to men's sessions learning and developing there and I'm sure they'll pick up some stuff from him. I'm excited at the prospect of hopefully tapping into the likes of Nathan Hughes and Steve Luatua on more leadership stuff. I just see it as an absolute positive.”

Bristol head into pre-season in twoweeks' time and Lillicrap hopes to be back after tearing two ligaments in her ankle in Wales' Six Nations match against Ireland in April. Wales' campaign – played two, lost two – was overshadowed by talk of how to progress the team.

The 33-year-old added: “We would hope for better results but the exciting thing for me is as a group of players we were the tightest we've been. Our culture was the best it's been for a long time.

“Everyone had each other's backs and that's something that is hard to coach. Hopefully we can convert that into better performances and I absolutely know we will.”