Rhiannon Roberts has praised the level of talent coming through the Welsh ranks.
Asked during Monday’s squad announcement, manager Gemma Grainger said the potential in Wales is limitless. I put the same question to the Welsh defender, and she wholeheartedly agreed.
‘I’ve watched some of the talent come through, the younger ones, I went to an under-19s game about a month ago and the talent coming through is unbelievable’
‘It’s just so good to see, obviously our system has progressed so much over the last few years, not just the grassroots stuff with the huddle, but with the RTC side of things and the regional, the north side and the south side’
‘Because a lot of it was down south before, I love the progression they’ve done up north’
‘Just watching these youngsters coming through, they’re so talented and I can’t wait for them to take our shirts to be honest. It’s just exciting to see and for me I think it’s just going to rapidly improve.’
Relationship with Helen Ward
During the last international camp against France and Kazakhstan, striker Helen Ward won her 100th cap. During her media duties ahead of those matches, she praised her roommate Roberts for helping her numerous times in her career.
When asked how much Ward had done for her, Roberts had nothing but praise for her dear friend.
‘She has helped me settle in this team so well, we are stuck at the hip a bit not gonna lie! She’s just a warming person and she’s a comfortable person to be around’
‘In the room we talk ourselves in and out of situations all the time and just help each other mentally. I’ve tried to keep her going for the last couple of years to be honest because I’ve said I can’t change my roommate; you can’t do that to me!’
‘She’s just a great person to be around, she is like the mother of the group, she’s just the person everyone turns to, and everyone goes to and that you can rely on. She’s just an all-round great person.’
Missing out on the Euros
The European Championships take place next month and Wales narrowly missed out on a place in the tournament, being held in England.
Roberts however believes not qualifying can be a good motivation tool in order to qualify for the next tournament.
‘I think it just gives you more drive to go and achieve in the next tournament and better yourself and just do better than you did in your last game all the time’
‘Like we say every time just take one game at a time. It’s a tough one obviously to watch, it’s tough’
‘But at the end of the day, there’s nothing you can do about it it’s out of your control now, so our main focus is the next one and hopefully qualifying for a World Cup.’
Preparations for New Zealand
Wales are preparing to face New Zealand in a friendly on Tuesday, with one eye also on their remaining World Cup qualifiers in September against Greece and Slovenia.
In the FIFA rankings, New Zealand are currently ranked 22nd, while Wales are 31st, but Roberts is relishing coming up against higher ranking opposition.
‘It just gives us the chance to improve on certain points that we want to work on. Obviously to get together as a group, otherwise it would be a large gap without seeing everyone’
‘Working on bits that we need to improve on and prepping for the upcoming games in September’
‘It gives us a chance to prove ourselves against a high-rank opponent … it’s a different kind of opponent we’re playing but we can still work on things that we need to and it’s just another good test for us, we want to compete against the high nations.’
Wales will play New Zealand in an international friendly in Pinatar (Spain) on the 28th of June, with kick off at 18:00.
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