England clinch Women’s Six Nations grand slam in epic finale against France

The bare facts are a big deal in themselves. England are the Six Nations grand-slam champions and sealed the deal with a thunderous first-half performance their players will remember with pride and satisfaction. From a pure rugby perspective the game fully justified its high-profile billing.

But as you gazed around the buzzing stadium and listened to the ear-splitting roars of the excited congregation there could be no missing the wider significance of this occasion. Never has a bigger crowd watched a game of women’s rugby in history and from every conceivable point of view it felt like another huge tipping point for female sport.

You could sense it on the trains to Twickenham and in the queues of bright-eyed schoolgirls snaking up the road to the ground. Not only was it clear that many were first-time visitors but the vibe was entirely different too. When they tot up the match day takings they will find that alcohol sales were appreciably down: but less corporate might just be a blueprint that the Rugby Football Union should consider following across the board.

Better still, perhaps, was that this ‘new normal’ felt so natural, as if it should have happened years ago, had anyone bothered to arrange it. Credit clearly needs to go to those at the modern forefront of the women’s rugby revolution but this, in many ways, was a day to recognise and applaud all those who paved the way in front of a handful of spectators for decades with barely a shred of publicity.

It added up to an afternoon of such sun-soaked resonance that even the half-time show by the Sugababes - a popular music combo, m’lud - had to settle for second billing behind the percussive power of the Red Roses pack and the shrieking excitement of the record