A vintage Women’s Six Nations this has not been for captivating, nail-shredding drama, nor tumultuous twists and turns, but the latest mighty meeting between England and France could yet deliver the kind of contest that this competition needs more of. The ledger may tilt heavily in the Red Roses favour in recent years – 14 consecutive wins over their fiercest foes beginning to come by larger margins – yet a side that has spoken of the need to be challenged in a World Cup year will relish an opportunity to test themselves against one of the few teams on the planet capable of pushing them close.
England’s thoughts dare not prematurely turn to September’s World Cup final yet in the context of a global tournament they are expected to win, this could be a pivotal day. All being well, there is hope that there may be double the 40,000 or so likely to file in this weekend in attendance come that World Cup showpiece but any trip to Twickenham is one for the Red Roses to enjoy given how recently they were given standalone status at the ground.
“I think that word opportunity is pivotal,” hooker Lark Atkin-Davies tells The Independent “We’ve got a massive opportunity to go and put in the performance we want in front of a home crowd, and hopefully a really good one at that. It’s exactly what we want – we want these big occasions not just for us, but for the game as well.
“Every time we face France, we know it is going to be an incredibly physical battle. I think consistency is key for us. We set it out at the beginning of the tournament that we want to get better each week. It’s important that we focus on ourselves and get the detail we need to make sure that we try and get that 80-minute performance.”
It is almost a decade now since Atkin-Davies made her England bow at the Women’s Rugby Super Series in June 2015, her career tracking along with the sport through the dual-career days and into the professional age. The hooker has changed considerably since that first cap. Mentally, she speaks of the positive qualities that six years as a full-time professional have given her but a physical change is evident, too – a necessary one that has nonetheless required a readjustment in the hooker’s thinking.
To play internationally in the front row, Atkin-Davies recognised a need to grow bigger and stronger; one of the Red Roses’ most diligent individuals, she is slightly late for this interview as she squeezes in a few more sets in the gym. It has not been a straightforward journey, particularly in a society that can be quick to impose inaccurate ideas of what a female athlete should look like.
“My body has changed from when I got my first cap to now,” she explains, “But it’s changed to be purpose-built for the position that I play. I’m proud of the work that I put in to get to that point. It wasn’t easy. I had to change some quite deep-rooted societal ideas about what my body should look like.
“For me, it was about changing my narrative a bit. I see the purpose that my body has now. I know that I am incredibly powerful in the gym, which then helps me on the pitch. It’s been quite a journey, but the big thing for me is making sure that I am in the best physical shape I can be to do my role on the pitch. I hope that by being open about it, hopefully I can be a good role model for people who are in the same position.”
Atkin-Davies has reaped the rewards, with her and Amy Cokayne – fit again after a pectoral injury to feature off the bench on Saturday – firmly established as England’s one-two hooker punch.
England largely went away from using their lineout as a weapon last year as they expanded their attacking architecture but the firm foundations that so nearly took them to World Cup glory in New Zealand remain in place. Their scrum continues to do damage while their maul is a thing of muscular, mean beauty. The shifting of captain Zoe Aldcroft to the blindside gives Atkin-Davies and the rest of the hookers an extra long-limbed, springy target, widening their options – all of the skipper, Abbie Ward and Rosie Galligan rank in the top six for lineout takes per 80 minutes in this tournament.
Forwards coach Louis Deacon’s lineout specialism has helped the group along but much of their development has been player-led. “It’s a lot of detail and personal responsibility in terms of getting that right so we function as a unit,” Atkin-Davies says. “We’ll be the first to pick ourselves up on detail if it slips.
“The beauty of our squad at the moment is that we’ve got so much depth. We’ve got so many incredible players within our group. We’re taking each game as it comes, but sometimes it is also good to reflect on the things we are doing well. We are pretty hard on ourselves.”
Those perfectionist qualities become necessary in a week like this, where the intensity ratchets up a notch. It is not quite a French side at full strength – the absence of Romane Menager after another concussion is cause for concern for several reasons – but they have the physical prowess and backline creativity to stress a Red Roses side wary of complacency. England will recall this fixture two years ago, when France very nearly overturned a massive half-time deficit as the hosts switched off.
One would not forecast a repeat. For Emma Sing, with Ellie Kildunne out, and Zoe Harrison, preferred to Holly Aitchison at fly half, there is plenty to play for with the upcoming tournament in mind. The Red Roses have said that they will have to roll with the punches to win the World Cup but are yet to really be dealt a blow – with the World Cup on the horizon, this is a vital chance against the only northern hemisphere foe capable of matching their punching power.
