Sioned Harries: Wales forward upset about Six Nations omission
- Published
Sioned Harries plays her club rugby for Worcester Warriors
Forward Sioned Harries says missing out on another Six Nations is "gutting", especially when she thinks she is still good enough to play for Wales.
The 31-year-old was a key player under Rowland Phillips, but has not been selected since the autumn of 2019.
But she still hopes to add to her 58 caps and finish her career at a fourth Rugby World Cup which has been put back a year to 2022.
"The main focus is that I keep my own self belief," she said.
Harries was left out of the 2020 Six Nations squad along with another high profile player in former captain Carys Phillips, the daughter of Rowland.
But Phillips was recalled after Warren Abrahams was appointed head coach in November 2020.
Abrahams said he had spoken with Harries and reiterated that the "door is never closed".
"I look at everyone and people will get the opportunity when I feel it's the right time," he told BBC Sport Wales.
"We want to build depth and we want competition. We want to grow the women's game within Wales and most importantly we want to make it pretty hard for people to play for Wales, so when they do get that jersey, they have earned it."
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Harries says her focus now is to play well for Worcester Warriors in the Premier 15s.
Speaking on the Scrum V podcast she said: "I've gone through many emotions with it.
"Frustration, anger, disappointment, but by now I'm getting to the point where it's a matter of controlling the controllables.
"I didn't want it to become a focus of my season.
"I think I'm still good enough, that's what's hard about it really."
She believes an ankle injury which ruled her out of Rowland Phillips' final Six Nations in 2019 contributed to her international downfall.
"When I came back to train in the autumn squad, things had changed in the backroom staff. Ryan Jones became more apparent," she said.
"In 10 years of playing that was the most serious injury I'd had. I acknowledge that I wasn't myself, my confidence was on an all time low. I did express this at the time, but maybe I didn't match the perception of me.
"I had a phone call to say I wasn't going to be included in the Six Nations the following year. I went to a dark place with it all, I'm not going to lie about that."
Despite her set backs, Harries still has a burning desire to wear the red jersey again.
"My goal is still to play for Wales," she added.
"I'm happy with my performances, I just hope it's enough. It'll be interesting for me to watch these Six Nations games and think what can I offer that's a bit extra."
Wales begin their campaign away to France on Saturday.