This was a French lesson for the RFU, insists Hunter

When a Rugby World Cup-winning Test cap centurion, who is also a former world player of the year, speaks regarding changes that should be made to improve her sport, you listen.

England captain Sarah Hunter was obviously dejected by Saturday’s last-gasp 18-17 defeat at the hands of a risk-taking France side who have put her team out of Grand Slam contention, but was celebrating the record crowd who watched Le Crunch unfold in the 20,000-capacity Stade des Alpes. The No 8 was adamant that such attendances should become the standard for the women’s game and believes that the other unions must now play catch-up with the French in order to broaden the fan base.

“We want to play in front of big crowds, we want to play in big stadiums like this almost at capacity. This has to be the norm. The French Federation has done a fantastic job to promote it, to grow the game here, and we have to see every nation do that,” she said.

“In 2021 when we get to the next World Cup, this has to be the norm, this has to be where the baseline is. It is a great milestone and the French have now set the benchmark. Other nations are going to have to aspire to emulate this.”

The French have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to attracting fans to Women’s Six Nations fixtures, having cities such as Grenoble, Toulouse and Perpignan bid for the honour of hosting Test-match rugby, with average attendances of close to 10,000 in last year’s tournament, compared with England’s 3,565 over three Six Nations games of their Grand Slam-winning campaign of 2017.

There is no doubt England have

Strong views: Sarah Hunter says the RFU needs to grow attendances for women’s games been trailblazing in terms of the professionalisation of women’s rugby, and their £2.4 million investment in the Premier 15s allows more players to benefit from elite coaching and training environments. But they are still behind France when it comes to crowds.

Simon Middleton’s team looked composed at the start of their encounter with Les Bleues, with wing Abigail Dow opening the scoring. Rachael Burford being sent to the sin-bin seemed to tire the Red Roses, with France full-back Jessy Tremouliere and fly-half Caroline Drouin scoring tries before half-time.

England hit back after the break as hooker Amy Cokayne scored off the back of a driving maul, but Tremouliere scored her second try with a minute left to snatch the game and, most likely, the Women’s Six Nations crown.

Scoring France England Referee