I feel like I've been on an emotional rollercoaster for the past eight weeks, but I am so delighted we ended our Six Nations with victory out in Italy.

The message all week was 'take their legs from them'. This meaning to target them at set-piece especially with our driving mauls and scrums.

We also knew we had to do it for Caryl [Thomas] and give her the send-off she deserves, and we certainly did that.

She and I actually had a photo after the game with the scoreboard behind us, as in all the years we've played together, we've never beaten Italy with that sort of score.

There was a lot of pressure on us to win. I know we finished third last year, but the loss to Italy at home felt really anti-climactic.

This year we were determined to finish on a high and obviously there is an outcome to that third place. We are now ranked sixth in the world (three places above the men!) and we're in the top tier going into the WXV.

That will most likely involve another trip to New Zealand, somewhere we know well after last year's World Cup.

The girls were joking saying that they'd love a trip to South Africa, but there was no way we were giving up that third place slot.

Ultimately as that old cliché goes, if you want to be the best, you've got to play the best.

Looking back, it's the most successful campaign I've been a part of and that's a reflection of the environment that's been created. If things go well off the pitch, you can definitely see how well they can go on the pitch.

Everyone works really hard, there is no hierarchy like 'they're on a contract and you're not', it's a one team mentality. If you're not selected one week, you just crack on and put the team first, it makes a huge difference.

I know we're still chasing England and France, but I think we've definitely gone up a level with the investment and contracts.

England are going to be in a league of their own for some time, but personally I don't think we're too far off France and we could really challenge the likes of Canada as well.

Time will tell, the 2025 World Cup is going to be really exciting for us if things continue as they are. We just have to take advantage of our professionalism. I believe the next rotation post World Cup will be really exciting.

Personal reflections

If I'm honest it's been a tough campaign for me.

It's getting more and more difficult balancing my job as a teacher with the demands of what's now a professional team.

It has put a lot of things into perspective, it's going to come to a point where I'm going to have to choose one or the other, and that's going to be really hard as I've always had to put career first.

When I started playing for Wales, turning professional was never something that was attainable and it wasn't something I thought about until these last couple of years.

I don't think I had my best Six Nations and you can see the difference in my performances at the World Cup, where I had only been a rugby player in the three months leading up to it.

But the girls who are on contracts, you can see their development has just rocketed and that's great for them and the team. It just goes to show not only the effect of financial investment but also time.

Don't get me wrong I've really enjoyed it, and I am under no illusion it would have been a lot tougher if I didn't have the support from Ioan and my school.

The talent we've got coming through now is incredible. The young girls are hungry and nobody takes their position for granted. It was great to see Amelia Tutt getting her first cap at the weekend.

But for me the star of the show has been Toops [Sisilia Tuipulotu], what a campaign she has had.

People keep asking me 'who's the number three? I wouldn't want her running at me'. I keep forgetting she's just 19 years-old, what a future she has in the game.

Another I would keep an eye on is Bryonie King, I may be biased as she's a back rower, but she'll be a dangerous one with more time and investment, as will Jenna De Vera who we didn't get to see, but we will soon enough.

Credit to the coaches as well, they have been class.

You can see the instant difference Shaun Connor has made as attack coach. The first thing he said to us is 'we need to play flatter, we need to play on top'.

We still need to work on being more clinical but I think that opening performance against Ireland was a sign of the intensity we're capable of.

Mike Hill's knowledge of the set piece is unrivalled, it's to the point where he changes the lineouts every week!

And Ioan, like I said last week, his positivity, empathy and honesty drives the culture, and I've got a lot to thank him for bringing me back into the squad.

Celebrating success

There was no 'protein shake and bed by nine' after our win at the weekend, the coaches said it was important for us to go out and celebrate.

Parma was pretty quiet though so we held kangaroo court in our hotel and had some drinks and a disco. Management didn't get off lightly, in particular Shaun and Mike.

And with the players it was the usual suspects; Georgia Evans, Natalia John and Keira Bevan getting most of the fines.

There were a few sore heads on Sunday before we travelled home, I won't name names!…. (Alisha Butchers).

I think it's also important we celebrate the tournament as a whole as well, England may have won the Grand Slam but women's rugby was the overall winner.

I'm so proud to be involved as a player during this record-breaking time, and it's only going to escalate and escalate, especially with all the media coverage as well this year. We're no longer the 10 second trailer at the end of the news bulletin, we're making the headlines.

When I started out I could never have imagined playing in front of sell-out crowds and to think there were over 58,000 at Twickenham is crazy.

I am super excited for next year's Six Nations, we've got the three blues at home, Scotland, France and Italy and if we have a good WXV, it's likely to generate more crowds.

I'd personally like to thank all the fans, family and media for the time, support and investment they have shown for us this year.

Cari Morris has done a great job documenting our journey through HerStory and that's been great in giving you guys an insight into our day to day lives.

Once again, thank you for all your support and let's hope we continue to make the nation proud and inspire the next generation.

Now back to the day job!