It is quite a crude question, and one that sets up the Red Roses for embarrassment if they slip up at some stage over the next five weeks, but Louis Deacon does not dodge it.
If England entered two teams in the Women’s Six Nations, would they finish first and second? Deacon, their forwards coach, would be disappointed if either side fell short. Given the potential of France and Ireland’s resurgence, it is quite a statement.
“We’re very confident that those teams are reasonably equal and operating as one has been our message,” he says of the two very different sides selected for the opening games against Italy and Wales.