Wales fly-half Elinor Snowsill has backed the prospect of the women's 2021 Six Nations being moved to spring.

But Bristol Bears' Snowsill, 31, says the move means the women's event can shine away from the shadow of the men's tournament.

She says some have been "surprised" by her support, which is also based on the chance to play in better conditions.

"It's surprising to quite a few people, but I'm actually quite glad about it for two reasons," 56-times capped Snowsill told BBC Radio Wales.

"It gives us the opportunity to see how the tournament would work as a stand-alone tournament apart from the men's and so we don't have to work our fixtures around the men's. We can actually see how it works alone.

"Secondly, from a personal perspective as a fly-half I'd much rather be playing in slightly warmer weather and hopefully play some more, a bit more attacking rugby, free-flowing rugby where you're not trying to play in the snow and wind and rain.

"It has been great being alongside the men's Six Nations because we get a lot more publicity alongside that.

"You get your squad announcements at the same time and all this sort of thing so there's definitely been benefits for growing our game by having it alongside the men's over the last few years, but a lot of people are questioning now is the game ready to be a stand-alone tournament?"

Snowsill also believes moving the women's tournament away from the same calendar slots as the men's showpiece means broadcast games can be watched by more fans.

"Fans of the women's game sometimes couldn't watch all three games at the same time because they were at 2pm on a Saturday or 12pm on a Saturday to suit working around the men's scheduling," she said.

'It's brilliant to be back playing'

The Premier 15s in which Snowsill plays for Bristol resumes this weekend after a break for organisers to set up Covid-19 testing.

Bears are not involved this weekend, but Snowsill is "really, really pleased" the testing regime has been implemented and is relishing her side's trip to Loughborough Lightning next Saturday.

"They've now been able to get testing in place so all we have to do is turn up to training half an hour earlier," she said.

"We get tested, we sit in the car, wait for the results and 15 to 20 minutes later the results are there and all the other protocols are still in place.

"We wear masks at all times, apart from when we're actually on the pitch training and we still get temperature tested.

"It's brilliant to be back playing."