Wales Women head coach Rowland Phillips has named his team for this Saturday’s opening Women’s Six Nations match against Italy in Ancona (14:00 GMT).

Seven players remain in the starting line-up from last year’s team that took on Italy at the Talbot Athletic Ground, including captain and hooker Carys Phillips and openside Rachel Taylor.

Since taking charge of the team, along with assistant coaches Nick Wakley and Paul Young, Wales Women have won all four of their most recent fixtures – including victories against upcoming opponents Ireland and Scotland.

Phillips believes a rigorous schedule and upgraded fixture list has made his team better prepared for top-flight international competition.

“We’re definitely prepared,” said Phillips. “Our progress to this point has been excellent. There are going to be big challenges ahead, and Italy is as big as any for us, but we’ll grow as a squad for that.”

All 23 players have featured regularly in the past four matches, and Phillips has underline the performance-related nature of his squad. “There is consistency, but the players are aware there’s strong competition for places,” added the head coach.

“Their performances are driven by that. They’ve been rewarded for continuing to push themselves to keep hold of their jerseys.”

Phillips – who has coached Italians men’s teams Aironi and Viadana – think Italy, who beat Wales last season, will be strong again.

“They’re very, very good, but the focus for us is really on ourselves. We’ve been improving our in-game management, which was evidenced in our game against Ireland a couple of weeks ago in Dublin, but we have to ensure we get our game right this Saturday.”

Note: This match will be streamed live on the Women’s Six Nations Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Tickets to Wales Women’s home fixtures in this year’s competition, against England and Ireland at the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, are available here.

Wales Women team to face Italy

15 Dyddgu Hywel (Scarlets)
14 Elen Evans (Scarlets)
13 Kerin Lake (Ospreys)
12 Robyn Wilkins (Ospreys)
11 Adi Taviner (Ospreys
10 Elinor Snowsill (Newport Gwent Dragons)
9 Keira Bevan (Ospreys)
1 Caryl Thomas (Scarlets)
2 Carys Phillips (c) (Ospreys)
3 Amy Evans (Ospreys)
4 Rebecca Rowe (Newport Gwent Dragons)
5 Mel Clay (Ospreys)
6 Sioned Harries (Scarlets)
7 Rachel Taylor (Scarlets)
8 Shona Powell-Hughes (Ospreys)

Replacements
16 Lowri Harries (Scarlets)
17 Cerys Hale (Newport Gwent Dragons)
18 Gwenllian Pyrs (Scarlets)
19 Siwan Lillicrap (Ospreys)
20 Alisha Butchers (Scarlets)
21 Sian Moore (Newport Gwent Dragons)
22 Gemma Rowland (Newport Gwent Dragons)
23 Jessica Kavanagh-Williams (Scarlets)