SPEEDSTER Jasmine Joyce believes Wales Women made great strides in the Six Nations after helping to finish the championship with a flourish.

The Olympic sevens ace scored a terrific try to secure the spoils against Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park on Sunday, racing over after receiving the ball inside her own half in the 24-5 victory.

That success came after edging the round four thriller in Scotland and meant Rowland Phillips' side finished fourth.

That represents progress given that Wales also drew in Italy, when denied victory because of a marginal forward pass before another superb Joyce finish.

"To get our second win of the campaign is massive for us and we've ended up finishing fourth which is a massive step up from last year," she said.

"We couldn't ask for much more than that. England and France are a step above the other nations, but we want to keep building on this."

The display against the Irish was especially pleasing as Wales, who showed spirit in defence throughout the tournament, crossed for four tries.

Phillips believes his charges made strides in their first autumn campaign and his winger believes the Six Nations bodes well as they build towards the next World Cup in New Zealand.

"It's the best we've played in a very long time both as a squad and in terms of individual performances. I think we can enjoy ourselves after that one – it all clicked," said Joyce.

"We have been getting better and better. Italy are on the up, which we saw with their win over Franc, and for us to get wins over Scotland and now Ireland is massive.

"It's great to give us some momentum going into next year's Six Nations and then the World Cup."