Why England and France’s dominance is bad for the Women’s Six Nations

It was a weekend on which England and France’s superiority over the rest of the Women’s Six Nations was clearly underlined. It was not just the margins of victory but the manner in which they were achieved: France’s 14 players commanding in Cork; an injury-ravaged England rarely threatened by Italy at Franklin’s Gardens.

The challenges that England are facing are worth summarising. Their list of absentees for their second-round fixture in Northampton was 19 names long. The hosts’ head coach, Simon Middleton, is about to leave. Sarah Hunter, their long-time captain, has just retired. Since the World Cup, England have lost as many as eight props that might have made a matchday squad.

Across these opening two weekends, none of that seems to have mattered – the Red Roses have looked totally dominant. And while their shared championship duopoly with France may not be new, it is an increasing concern as the tournament looks to capitalise on the momentum behind it and fulfil its commercial potential.

Sport, ultimately, is sustained by competition and jeopardy, and at the moment it feels the Women’s Six Nations is largely lacking in both. In encounters with non-French opposition in the tournament since 2019, the Red Roses’ wins have on average come by 55 points.

Having so few games that are true contests feels inhibitive at a time when attendances are booming. Twickenham should host more than 50,000 spectators for a game between England and France that can already surely be pencilled in as a grand slam decider, but will supporters at some point fatigue of one-sided scorelines, placing a natural cap on the swell of television and in-ground audiences?

“If anything, it will make the unions realise they need to up their game so we can compete with the best,” England captain Marlie Packer said after the Italy win when asked what benefits such dominant victories can bring. “We can only play what’s in front of us.

“We keep driving our standards. This week we’ll look at ourselves and look at what we did wrong and what we can do better against Wales.”

World Rugby have high hopes for their WXV competition, which will group the world’s top 18 nations into three tiers, and hope it can provide more appropriate, engaging fixtures. The inaugural edition will be played in the autumn, with the top-tier competition likely to be hosted by New Zealand.

It is not England or France’s fault, of course, that other nations are lagging behind. The Rugby Football Union’s early implementation of contracts should have prompted a swifter response from the other nations. Belatedly, it would appear other unions have woken up, though few would argue Ireland’s players particularly are being set up to succeed, with paltry contract offers declined by a number of Greg McWilliams’s more senior…