Wales have taken foot off the gas, says Evans

Forward Georgia Evans says Wales have taken their foot off the gas and that has allowed the rest of the Six Nations to pass them by.

Evans has been a mainstay in the Wales side that climbed to a record high of sixth place in the world following successive third-place finishes in the championship.

But their progress has badly stalled this year amid four defeats, despite additional investment into the game.

Now they face Italy on Saturday aiming to avoid a first Women's Six Nations whitewash.

Evans, 27, said: "We've got the strongest squad we've ever had, with the strength in depth, and have everything we need to be a success.

"But it's sobering that other teams have rapidly caught us up in terms of professionalism.

"It's not that we've got worse, but we've probably taken our foot off the gas and other teams have caught up.

"But we'll be the first to hold up our hands and say we haven't done what was expected of us. Now we need to get our foot back down."

Wales' losing run stretched to a seventh game in all competitions with a 40-0 mauling by France at Cardiff Arms Park.

An interception score and a late try may have skewed the scoreline, but Welsh inaccuracy in attack has become a worrying trend.

They have scored just 15 points in their last four hours of rugby, against England, Ireland and France, despite dominating possession and territory against Les Bleues.

"We can take some confidence from the fact we went toe-to-toe in the last game with one of the best teams in the world," said 26-cap Evans.

"But we can't shy away from the fact we didn't show that on the scoreboard, which is probably the tale of our Six Nations.

"It was the same against England. We kept getting into the 22, but it's getting over that whitewash which is causing us problems.

"We have to look at ourselves as individuals at being clinical at those key moments because we just need a win."

Wales will play at Principality Stadium for the first time in five years when they welcome Italy on Saturday.

It comes just six weeks after the two nations' men's teams met at the same venue in another Wooden Spoon showdown.

Wales have not beaten Italy at home for 12 years, but must win by 19 points, score four tries and stop the Azzurre picking up a bonus point to avoid finishing last.

"It can be hard to lift yourself out of a slump and people are calling for everyone to be sacked, but only the players can make this better," said Evans.

"Italy is going to be an arm-wrestle, it always is.

"But we are tight as a group, we are fighters and we've done it before.

"We know when things click we can compete with the very best and we want to finish at the stadium on a high to right some wrongs."