Are Wales players getting enough game time?

During post-mortems of Wales' winless Six Nations and World Cup campaigns, a common theme emerged - game time.

A lack of match minutes at club level resulted in players going into international tournaments undercooked, lacking fitness and match sharpness.

"We have seen in WXV tournaments and the last World Cup that many of our players were just not physically or psychology prepared," said Welsh Rugby Union chair of the women's committee, Amanda Bennett.

It was something Wales head coach Sean Lynn was already only too aware of.

So with the women's club season getting underway, how are things looking for the Wales players at this early stage?

Lynn said after the World Cup pool round exit that he will be looking closely at the issue of limited game-time this season.

This would start with the former Gloucester-Hartpury head coach building relationships with Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) coaches to ensure his players are getting opportunities.

Of Lynn's 32-player squad selected for this summer's World Cup only 12 were involved in the opening week of the PWR season. That number rose to 17 this weekend given Bristol Bears' involvement.

Some, such as Alex Callender and Gwen Crabb, were absent due to injury.

But dig a little deeper and you will see that only five of 12 Wales players involved in the opening week actually started, and the likes of Hannah Dallavalle and Megan Davies got less than 10 minutes of action.

This weekend, just seven of the 17 Wales players to appear for their clubs did so from kick-off. All the rest had varying minutes off the bench.

Meanwhile the likes of Molly Reardon, Jenni Scoble, Catherine Richards, Kerin Lake, Tilly Vucaj and Bryonie King will not play until Gwalia Lightning kick-off their Celtic Challenge Cup campaign along with Brython Thumber in December.

So what can Wales do to make sure that come the 2026 Six Nations, players are battle-hardened and ready for Test rugby.

Players can off course keep banging on the door for PWR selection, but with so-many of England's World Cup winning Red Roses in the squads, competition is rife.

One player who is hoping to make an impact at Gloucester is wing or full-back Nel Metcalfe, one of Wales' few shining lights this year.

"One thing that we've seen from the World Cup is that game time is really important, so the focus this season is just to be playing," said 20-year-old Metcalfe.

"Hopefully I can get a place in the Gloucester team, that would be amazing, but we'll see how it goes."

The Celtic Challenge will no doubt play a huge part. The cross-border competition is now in its third year, with Lightning and Thunder already producing internationals.

The ambition at the WRU is that the two regions could even entice Welsh players struggling for game-time to return home.

"It was so amazing for myself and so many of the other girls, it's another opportunity to play," said Metcalfe.

"It has grown so much in the past two years and I know this year is going to be even bigger again. It would be amazing to be part of that as well."

As part of its recent consultation, the WRU said it would provide extra funding for the two sides - along with a new four-club league, a national academy and player development centres.

"This is a long term commitment by the WRU because we can see the opportunities ahead," said Bennett.

"We need to ensure we are providing a future for players, for eight-year-old girls just as we do for eight-year-old boys who want to pull on the jersey and play for Wales.

"That is through a pathway and a system that is visible, coherent, accessible and delivers the success that we so desperately want."