Head coach Sean Lynn said that his Wales side need to be ‘more consistent’ if they are to compete with the best sides in the world following their 7-38 defeat to France in the second round of the Women’s Six Nations.

Wales have now lost seven matches in a row under Lynn, despite an excellent first half performance seeing his side level with France at the break.

Pressure up front led to two swift yellow cards, either side of a penalty try, and plenty of uncharacteristic errors from Les Bleues.

While it was 7-7 at half time, Wales were not able to capitalise on the period that France went down to 13 players, with the visitors pulling away in the second half.

“We attempted 247 tackles, that’s a lot and it does take its toll,” said Lynn.

“We have to look to keep the ball more. It was the same against Scotland, we were forcing the ball.

“The set-piece did well in the first half but not in the second. We need to be more consistent in those areas.”

Lynn insists his side are closing the gap on the leading nations.

“We went in level at half-time against a top-four side and I thought the final scoreline was harsh,” he added.

“It’s just making sure we’re getting better with the first 10-15 minutes of the second half and the bench needs to be making the sort of impact that France’s did.”

Captain Kate Williams added they are developing a gameplan designed around speed of thought and action, given the lack of bulk in Wales’ ranks.

“It doesn’t matter about size. If you’re looking one on one, we can go toe-toe with grit and effort but as a nation we need to be so much technically and tactically better,” she asserted.

“We’re good at that in patches but if we’re not, you know weight wins when you play the likes of France.

“We know that. We’re not going to suddenly grow 20kg heavier so that [technique and tactics] is where we are focusing our efforts and improving.”

For Wales, the prospect of playing World Champions England at the end of a gruelling first block of Six Nations action is potentially daunting.

The Red Roses trounced Scotland at Murrayfield, scoring 12 tries on the way to a 7-84 victory.

“I watched the first 10 minutes of that game in the hotel before [Wales’ match]. England have got a lot of firepower haven’t they,” said Lynn.

“I watched them against Ireland last week as well and you can see they have just got so much pace in the backs in Jess Breach and Ellie Kildunne.

“The big focus has to be on us, how do we move the dial, how are we fixing our processes in attack and defence.”

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