Much of the talk around the 2023 Women’s Six Nations has centred on ‘the gap’.
Professional sides England and France have dominated the tournament for the past seven years.
Now that the other four teams have widespread player contracts too, there is hope they can catch up.
But hope is unlikely to be enough for Scotland when they open their tournament against England in Newcastle on Saturday.
In the history of the fixture, Scotland have only beaten England twice in 31 attempts – the last time in 1999.
The Red Roses won 57-5 last year and are now seeking a 20th victory in a row in the tournament – on the way to what could be a fifth successive Six Nations title.
Conversely, Scotland have tasted success in just one of their last 17 games in the tournament, have lost their last nine in a row in all competitions and finished sixth in 2022.
In recent years, this gap can be put down to professionalism. England have had contracts since 2019 and Scotland only got theirs in December 2022.
It is understandable, then, that, although vice-captain Helen Nelson insisted Scotland can win on Saturday, captain Rachel Malcolm said it was “too soon” to close the gap.
The England encounter is instead a chance to try new things before the battle for third place begins against Wales in round two.
“If any team is going to expose your weaknesses it’s going to be England,” added Malcolm.
“To have that first up, we can learn from that and take it into the rest of the tournament.”
As for England, co-captain Marlie Packer has suggested a narrower gap might be better for the Red Roses when World Cups come around.
England’s Six Nations dominance helped them to a record 30-Test winning streak, which ended in World Cup final heartbreak against New Zealand in November 2022.
“For me personally, that 30 winning streak – maybe if we’d lost here and there we’d have been dealt different cards,” Packer said of the final on Radio 4.