In her new BBC Wales Sport column, Wales number eight Sioned Harries talks Ireland, fines and Welsh progress as she prepares for her 10th Six Nations.

Having trained full-time in pre-season, I was in the best physical shape I’d ever been in at last year’s World Cup in New Zealand.

I’ve struggled with a bit of club game-time since then, but I am in good shape and raring to go.

I still have the same feelings of excitement going into a new campaign. How can you not with the way things are going in women’s rugby right now?

There is so much more hype and media coverage and it’s always evolving.

I guess it’s a bit more nerve-wracking, especially for an experienced international like me. While I would have got away with a few dark arts previously, you just can’t any more!

There’s also the fanbase. The crowds at games are getting bigger and bigger and you’re conscious of the impression you’re giving, especially to the youngsters who may see you as a role model.

It’s a great time to be playing rugby for Wales.

Great expectations

There’s been a lot going on off the field with the Welsh Rugby Union, but I think what’s important for us is that we don’t let what’s happening overshadow us as a group.

We want to go out and show ‘this is what we can do’.

I think this is the most prepared we’ve been going into a Six Nations. We’ve got double the number of professional contracts compared to last year, so the contact time is much higher.

It’s also fortunate that we’re coming in off the back of the World Cup in October. It’s been quite a short turnaround because they are usually played in the summer.

It was a frustrating tournament for us because we played a lot without the ball, we were always defending, and when we did have the ball in key areas, we weren’t coming away with points.

We knew we had it in us, we had trained and attacked really well in pre-season, but we didn’t showcase it.

That’s the biggest work-on for us leading into this Six Nations – we want to be more clinical and consistent.

We’ve had Shaun Connor come in as our attack coach and he is huge on playing on momentum. We had a training match against South Africa on Saturday and there were a lot of positives to take away from that.

Experienced, not old

There’s a lot of excitement around the six uncapped players Ioan Cunningham has brought in. The confidence and energy they bring to training is infectious.

Players like Jenna De Vera and Bryonie King are not afraid to speak up, they make their voices heard and that’s exactly the kind of environment we want to create.

I sometimes think ‘gosh, look how young they are’, but they are so talented and they certainly keep the senior players on their toes.

But with age comes experience. I don’t want to sound assuming, but when you’re young you tend to put a lot of pressure on yourself when you first come into the environment, everything is new and you want to impress.

And while I am still as competitive as ever, I do have greater respect and a sense of calm around the process. I have learned over the years to enjoy and embrace the opportunity, and understand I can only control the controllable.

I also have greater respect for my body and my wellbeing because I know now how to balance training and life.

Irish out for revenge

Ireland are first up again this year and it’s certainly a good one for us to get our teeth into – not literally of course! We know they’re going to be a fierce opposition.

I think they would have been disappointed with how they lost in Dublin last year, as they felt they were in a good place with their sevens girls coming back in.

They’ll definitely be targeting us for a win, as we will be targeting them.

Both sides will also be out for revenge and both sides will want to right some wrongs.

Ireland missed the World Cup because of us winning the play-off in 2017. We are also aware that the last time Ireland visited us in Cardiff they had a significant win, so we want to rewrite that history.

I’m not really one for focusing on other teams, but looking at the Six Nations as a whole, it’s probably the most open it’s been for a long time with all teams now having professional players.

But we have to remember that we’re only in our second year of contracts. Things do take time and it’s not going to happen overnight.

Our main focus is to express ourselves and build on last year’s third-place finish. There is some talk naturally of teams losing players to retirement and injuries, but like every campaign and each game, we focus on us.

Teacher hat comes off

The feeling in camp is really good again this year.

I love that I can come in and just be myself. I don’t feel like I am in my usual school teacher role, like I have to watch what I say.

We’ve just started our committees, we’ve got a social one, a music one and a comedy club, which I’m part of.

Alisha Butchers is going to be a big miss on the field this year, but she will be on top form off it. She is going to be with us for all the games on the side of the pitch. She is also heading up the fines for things like time-keeping, so if you’re late for anything it’s Butch you have to answer to.

I get fined, more because of things I say than what I do. I come out with some ridiculous things now and again.

But because I’m an old head I think they’re a bit hesitant to fine me (or maybe they don’t see it), and I’m like ‘yes just do it, I can take it’. Hopefully that will be be the case on the pitch as well!