Analysis of the weekly Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) lineups suggests the latter.
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Team sheets in England’s top flight are once again worryingly short on Welsh talent, a concern as Sean Lynn’s side look to avoid a third successive wooden spoon.
Only a few players, such as Lleucu George and Carys Cox, appear to be getting regular starts, while the majority have to settle for places on the bench.
Sisilia Tuipulotu is an impactful pillar at Gloucester-Hartpury, but says she still feels ready for Wales’ first match against Scotland on Saturday (16:40 BST).
“To be honest, I’m happy. Even if I don’t play or get the minutes I want, I still train against the best in the league,” Tuipulotu said.
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“I’m still fighting against the best, I’m still learning, even though I may be on the bench for 20 minutes.”
Celtic Challenge Standards
Some players don’t even make it to matchday 23 at their clubs. Lisa Neumann started every World Cup match, but has barely seen Harlequins.
And that’s where the Celtic Challenge comes into play.
Lynn has 25 players from the cross-border tournament in his Six Nations squad and, although concerns have been raised about standards, he is confident they are prepared for the demands of Test rugby.
“If you look at the semi-finals you will see that you are playing against very good Irish teams who have international players in their set-up,” Lynn said.
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“The work we’ve been doing is getting these players in on Monday night and Tuesday to make sure we can be battle-hardened, robust and push our fitness mark as well.
“I would say we’re in a much better place.”
Whether Wales are in a better position will be determined at the Principality Stadium, where the rivalries between Celtic and Scotland will be renewed once again.
A need for perspective
Giving her assessment ahead of the Six Nations, former Wales captain Philippa Tuttiett said she could “see the benefits” of the Celtic Challenge but it was “nowhere near PWR standard”.
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“It will be a shock for some of the players who have only played Celtic Challenge to step up and play against international teams,” he said.
“But when you talk about a lack of preparation you have to put some perspective on it. Are Wales poorly compared to England, where almost all the players play week after week in the PWR? Yes.
“But are they underprepared compared to Italy, Scotland and Ireland? No. They are probably getting the same amount of game experience as those other nations.
“It’s not ideal, but we have to have some perspective on what we are comparing ourselves to. Hopefully the Celtic Challenge will evolve into a brilliant tournament, but at the moment it is still in its development stage.”