The reason for the gulf is obvious: England’s level of investment has left other nations playing catch-up.
They were the first of the six teams to introduce full-time professional contracts – doing so in 2019, two years after the restructure of the domestic competition required clubs to meet a number of on and off-field minimum standards to secure a franchise in the Premiership Women’s Rugby (then known as the Premier 15s).
Speaking in the Telegraph, external this week, captain Meg Jones challenged other unions to match their investment to give her fellow players the resources “they deserve”. Head coach Mitchell, meanwhile, is confident “somebody will come and get us at some point”.
The question is: when?
Speaking on BBC World Service’s More than the Score podcast, former Scotland captain Lisa Martin said it would be five years before another team – most likely France or Ireland – beat England to the title,
“The Six Nations is so synonymous with rugby,” said Martin. “But if it’s constantly a thing of ‘England will win it again and again’, there’s no jeopardy, there’s no competition with regards to how matches will turn out, how the tournament will turn out.
“How long is it going to keep of interest to fans if they know what’s going to happen?”
