A ruinous record? England, Ireland and a fight for Six Nations credibility

“W e need to make these games more competitive,” said the England head coach, Simon Middleton, in the build-up to Ireland v England, a match many believe may bring a record Women’s Six Nations scoreline on Saturday. For all the positive records produced by this tournament, including a potential new highest attendance for a women’s match when England face France at Twickenham on 29 April, this could be the one to overshadow the 2023 campaign.

England would beat their own record, currently the 89-0 win over Scotland in 2011, if they execute a huge victory against Ireland. The Red Roses’ biggest victory over Ireland was 79-0 in 2002 and results in this campaign have brought speculation about the potential scoreline.

England have recorded three bonus-point wins with their biggest victory coming against Italy, 68-5. They have scored 185 points and conceded just 15. Ireland, meanwhile, are yet to win and lost 53-3 to France. The experience of both teams is also a factor, with Ireland’s starting 15 having 185 caps between them, compared to England’s starters with 485.

Middleton said this week that the gap needs to close between all nations in the tournament. The last time a nation other than England or France won the title was Ireland in 2015, with the Red Roses winning the past four championships.

“It’s all dependent on how the unions get behind it,” Middleton told BBC Sport. “The rate of acceleration and closing the gap will all depend on funding. We have to make these games more competitive.

“We’ve been in this situation for a long time. We know going back eight years, Ireland were a real force, France, ourselves, and Wales beat an England side in 2015.

“I’m not sure it can continue in the guise it is now where it’s always