George's Rugby Journey and Current Form
Lleucu George began her rugby career playing for Whitland before transferring to Gloucester-Hartpury in 2019. The 26-year-old fly-half is eager to bring renewed energy to Wales' offensive play during this year's Women's Six Nations tournament.
George has demonstrated excellent form for Gloucester-Hartpury, the reigning Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) champions, who remain unbeaten this season. While many players in the Wales squad have faced limited playing time or competed in the Celtic Challenge, George has benefited from consistent game exposure.
"I'm lucky enough that the coaches at Gloucester have backed me to play the majority of the games," she said.
"It always helps getting put in different scenarios, having different pictures in front of you every weekend before coming into [Wales] camp."
Wales' Six Nations Campaign Kickoff
Sean Lynn's Wales team will commence their Six Nations campaign against Scotland at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, with kickoff scheduled for 16:40 BST. The Welsh side aims to avoid finishing last in the tournament for the third consecutive year.
Coaching and Tactical Developments
In preparation for the tournament, George has been collaborating closely with Ashley Beck, the former Ospreys centre who has been appointed as Wales' interim attack coach. Beck recently led Brython Thunder to the Celtic Challenge play-offs and is among several new additions to the coaching and playing staff.
"Coming into camp is completely fresh, it's almost stripping it back and starting from the beginning," George explained.
"Hopefully we can get more hands on ball because in the last few campaigns we've struggled to have that go forward and express ourselves as a backline.
We've got powerful, pacey players that we can move the ball to and, with the shape we're going in with, that's the aim."
Upcoming Match Against Scotland
Wales will face Scotland, who decisively defeated them 38-8 in their Pool B World Cup encounter last summer, a result that ended Wales' World Cup aspirations.
Wales have not secured a victory over Scotland in more than three years. However, George emphasized that Saturday's match is not about settling scores.
"It doesn't matter who we're coming up against in the first week, it's the first game, so we really want to try and put a stamp down," she said.
"It's a fresh start, we've got new coaches coming in and a different style of playing.
It's the same for them, they've got new coaches. We don't really know what they're going to bring, but we're concentrating on ourselves as much as we can. Obviously we'll look a little bit at them, but the onus is on us."
Team Leadership and Performance Outlook
Sean Lynn has been at the helm of the Wales women's rugby team for 12 months, having been appointed just one week before last year's Six Nations tournament. Under his leadership, Wales has achieved one win in 10 Test matches, a victory against Australia last summer.
Despite the challenging record, George remains optimistic about the team's progress.
"Obviously you want to win every game but if we put the performance down then we put ourselves in with a shot with winning," she said.
When asked about areas for improvement, George identified focus and execution.
"Playing in the right areas. We create opportunities but probably just need to stay switched on in every little moment so we can take them.
We've got a strong pack and exciting players in the back line. The biggest thing is to work hard for each other and opportunities will arise off the back of that.
Always play with like smiles on faces, Sean has always been big on that."
