England women’s Six Nations rugby domination continues as tournament’s popularity grows

May 18 - England tightened their grip on the Women's Six Nations with an eighth successive title but their domination has not dulled the competition's appeal with record crowds across the board this year.

The Red Roses beat France 43-28 in Bordeaux on Sunday in another Grand Slam decider between the teams as the French again proved the only side capable of pushing England before bowing to the inevitable on the final day.

"We are going to have to close the gap, with investment and the shape of the game," France captain Manae Feleu said.

"We have great potential, we now have to invest."

Further investment is surely warranted, given the game's growing popularity and support.

Following huge attendances at last year's World Cup -- in which England beat Canada in the final in front of a record 81,885 crowd at Twickenham -- this year's Six Nations attendances continued to reach new heights.

Sunday brought 35,062 to the Grand Slam decider, France's biggest-ever crowd, and 31,294 turned out as Ireland played their first standalone fixture at the Aviva Stadium to smash their record attendance.

Last month, England registered their highest crowd for a Six Nations game when 77,120 watched them beat Ireland at Twickenham, and Scotland, despite winning just one match, attracted 30,498 to Murrayfield.

That game may have ended in an 84-7 loss to England, but the crowd was the highest for a women's sporting fixture in Scotland.

Italy also broke their attendance record, and the previous cumulative attendance record in a Six Nations tournament of 188,182 set two years ago was broken after three rounds this year, and the final total was 279,760.

The last time England lost a Six Nations match came in an 18-17 defeat in France in 2018, with the French winning the title that year in a period when the tournament appeared to have found a real competitive edge after seven consecutive English wins.

Between 2013 and 2018 England won only one title, with France claiming three and Ireland triumphing twice.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

England have gone from strength to strength as Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) becomes more and more professional.

"We are very fortunate to have that very strong competition," England coach John Mitchell said.

"And we know for a fact as soon as our younger girls get 1,000 minutes in PWR they have a high probability of playing for England."

France are dominating at underage level and if the French federation delivers on promises to strengthen the country's domestic league, the senior side have the best chance of catching England.

Fiona Coghlan was Ireland captain when they won their only Grand Slam in 2013.

"With England and France, it's a numbers game," Coghlan told Reuters.

"They obviously have bigger numbers playing across the board, but they're also playing at a higher level. In Ireland, teams aren't really getting the competition they need."

If Ireland host England at the Aviva next season, a new attendance record will surely be set, but the question remains of how to bridge the gap at the top.

"I know there's been an expression of interest for an Irish team to play in the PWR, if that is the case, it has to be something that's sustainable," Coghlan said.

"I think we need week in, week out, a higher level of games for the girls to be playing." REUTERS