France can do dominant England a favour by pushing them hard at Twickenham

LONDON - If England thrash France to secure a seventh successive Womens Six Nations title on Saturday it might please most of the Twickenham crowd but would probably be the last thing the team and coaches need with their eyes on a bigger prize.

Englands total dominance is not good for the sport in terms of World Rugbys much-advocated desire to grow the game or attract new viewers and though they can only keep beating what is in front of them, it is hard to improve via a conveyor belt of easy wins.

The statistics behind their dominance are extraordinary.

England have won the last six Six Nations titles, winning every game, and the only reason they are not seeking a seventh successive Grand Slam is that the 2021 competition was shortened because of COVID.

Last weeks victory over Scotland was their 30th in a row in the championship. The last time they lost was in France in 2018, and that was by only one point. They have won 20 of the 29 tournaments in its various formats - including 14 of the last 19 - claiming 18 Grand Slams along the way.

In all rugby they have won 54 of their last 55 games with the glaring omission being the dramatic 34-31 Auckland defeat by New Zealand in the 2022 Womens Rugby World Cup final.

In September they will seek to gain revenge for that heartbreak, with all things pointing towards a probable rematch with New Zealand in the Twickenham final of this years World Cup on September 27.

England were stunned in an extraordinary finale in Auckland when the hosts had the temerity to compete for the first time at their opponents previously-unchallenged and imperious lineout and stole the ball on their own line, and with it the