After a mixed 2011 tournament where his team won twice but were comfortably beaten by England and France without scoring, Edwards wants an improvement this year particularly as Italy, France and Scotland will travel to Wales.

Wales broke Irish hearts with an agonisingly close 15-14 win at home in the fixture last year and Edwards wouldn’t complain if her side got away with a similar result this time.

“Ireland will be tough first up as they are always difficult to beat at home,” she said.

“If we can sneak a result there and do well against Scotland that will give us a bit of momentum for our trip to Twickenham where we face England.

 “We’ve targeted three wins – that’s going to be a huge challenge for the girls but with the girls buying into what we are striving for, I don’t see any reason why we can’t achieve that target.”

The Wales coach has named an experienced side captained by flanker Rosie Taylor with Catrin Edwards unavailable.

But Rosie Fletcher will claim her first cap on the wing and Edwards’ absence means a place on the bench for uncapped prop Megan York.

“Catrin’s absence is a huge blow to us as she was a great leader as well as giving us plenty of go forward from prop,” said Edwards.

“Saying that we still have plenty of experience with Jenny Davies and Caryl Thomas both playing well.”

“Rosie is a raw talent on the wing. She is an exciting prospect and is pretty quick and I’m confident she has the ability to perform at international level while Megan has done really well this season and deserves her place on the bench.”