As richly rewarding a competition as it may be, the start of the Women’s Six Nations can sometimes be an exercise in finding new ways to ask the same old questions. For several years now, we have yearned for a challenger to rise and take on the Red Roses, to meet the might of rugby’s most dominant side, but six editions into their tournament monopoly, the prospect of a non-English winner has never felt more distant.
That is not, at all, the fault of John Mitchell and his side, whose relentless pursuit of greatness, and the World Cup crown that eludes them, is evidenced by a switch of captain in what may prove a defining year. But it does mean that the lines of enquiry required when talking to the best and the rest are subtly different.
