The Wales U20 head coach recently named her 30-strong squad for the series, which will be held at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi from 4th-14th July, and is effusive in her belief that a new competition for this age grade can only be a good thing.
“The landscape has changed dramatically,” says Burgess when casting her mind back to what was available to her at the outset of her playing career. “The pathway now is about giving the girls opportunities to play at the highest level, against different opposition; for them to experience what it’s like with the travel, recovery, sleep, hydration, everything that encompasses competing in a different country.”
And it’s not all about what happens in camp, she stresses: “We’re exposing them to a performance environment that enables them to be accountable even when they’re not with us. We’ve built a supportive environment too, recognising that some of these girls are still in university, working towards their degrees, so getting that balance right with their careers is very important to us. It’s about them as people. We work with the person, the performer and the players - with those three circles joined together.”
It's no surprise that each Union and Federation involved in the Women’s Summer Series is at different stages of development in this age grade phase. As such, Wales will be focusing on their own performance next month when they take on France (4th July), England (8th) and hosts Italy (14th). “We’re still very much developing our pathway,” explains Burgess, who captained Wales in their first ever women’s international in 1987. “It’s year three now, so the U18s have been going three years and the 20s for two. We’ve set our performance goals for the girls in Parma. It’s going to be really interesting to see where all the teams are, because each nation is at a different level to the other.”
Hot weather is expected in Italy during the Women’s Summer Series, so how have Wales been preparing for that? “We’re training inside at the moment, ramping up the heat – heat baths, training in a hot gym – doing things to improve their resilience and adaptations for when we play in those conditions,” says Burgess. “We have different KO times too – mornings against France and England, and Italy in the evening – just to combat the heat. So it adds to those experiences for the girls who do go on to play senior international rugby. It’s going to be like a mini-World Cup.”
There’s a chance we could soon see some of these players in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations – while fullback Nel Metcalfe has already competed in it. “Look at the likes of Gwennan Hopkins and Sian Davies that have gone up to the senior women’s team this year, and Molly Reardon, a scrum-half who’s converted to hooker,” lists Burgess. “All three of those have played U18s and would have been in the U20s.”
The senior team finished bottom of the table in this year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations, so focus on the next generation of talent available to the coaches is more important than ever.
“The pathway is crucial in underpinning everything,” is how Burgess puts it. “If you haven’t got the pathway right then any succession planning just falls down. This needs to happen in Wales. It’s also exciting to see the young talent coming through.”
The dial is shifting, it seems. “There’s real opportunity now in terms of the regional age grade programme that feeds into our national U18s programme. Then the opportunity with the Celtic Challenge and the two teams we have there. And we’ve now two of our universities in BUCS, which is great. It’s all coming together.”
