Sarah Hunter, the England captain, has warned her side will have to be “at the top of their game” for their third-round Six Nations match against a “galvanised” Wales side on Saturday.

With more than 12,000 tickets sold for England’s first home game of the championship, a new crowd attendance is expected to be set for a non-World Cup home Red Roses match for the encounter at Kingsholm.

It will be the first meeting between the two sides since the Wales Rugby Union introduced 12 full-time contracts – along with a further 15 part-time deals – for its women’s side at the start of the year. That investment has translated onto the pitch, with Wales heading into the match high on confidence after recording victories over Ireland and Scotland.

“Since they’ve got the contracts, I don’t think it necessarily changes you in terms of what you do physically, but mentally it gives you that boost to go, ‘We’re full time athletes.’ It’s exciting, it’s new,” said Hunter. 

“It’s something that they’ve wanted for years and their coaching staff and what they’ve done has galvanised the squad and you’ve seen that in their two performances. 

“Gloucester is just across the border so it’s not too far for their fans to travel. A lot of their players play there so we’re expecting a real tough performance from Wales. We know we’re going to have to be on our game in order to counteract a lot of the threats that they will pose to us.” 

Simon Middleton, the England head coach, said selecting a starting team for the encounter had been “very tough”, although winger Jess Breach is in line to make her first championship start after being sidelined with Covid.