2026 Women's Six Nations talking points: What does England's 'muted' response mean?

Three rounds in and it is time for the 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations’ fallow week.

So far England’s Red Roses have been the pace setters in the competition as they look to win an eighth Championship in a row. In Round 3, John Mitchell’s side beat Wales 62-24 to claim their third bonus point win in a row, doubling down on their prior results against Ireland and Scotland.

In Parma, Italy were 41-14 winners against Scotland, while France dug deep to beat Ireland 26-7 in front of a baying Clermont crowd.

Here are three talking points from Round 3 of the 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations…

What does England’s “muted” response mean?

It was difficult to know how to react to Red Roses attack coach Emily Scarratt telling the BBC that England’s reaction to beating Wales 62-24 was “muted”. Of course the world champions were expected to beat a Wales side looking for confidence, by some margin, but hearing that the side were in some ways underwhelmed by a 36th straight win is a little concerning.

“You’re always in a Test match when you play a team like Wales,” Scarratt said. “I thought they really brought it today and posed some different challenges for us, which is pretty awesome in our development. We still got a pretty good job done. There’s a muted sense in the group, which is obviously a really good feeling when you put a score on like that.”

The biggest question surrounding England coming into the Women’s Six Nations was; how could they maintain such high levels of performance after the emotional high of winning last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup?

Even with a long injury list and key absences the Red Roses have powered to three bonus point wins from three. There has been no real challenge to their dominance. It is not hard to imagine that John Mitchell’s side could be going through the motions in some sense.

Maybe the fallow week has come at a good time. An opportunity to come back refreshed and ready to go again with Tests against Italy and France to close out the tournament.

France have set up huge Bordeaux finale

Even though there are still two rounds to go, we can all safely say that all roads lead to Bordeaux. Round 5 at the Stade Atlantique will decide who out of France and England that lift the 2026 Women’s Six Nations.

It would be England’s eighth title in a row and France’s first since 2018. Each have set out their stalls with three picture perfect wins from three.

Nothing about Red Roses’ wins against Ireland, Scotland and Wales has been extraordinary. John Mitchell’s side have scored 27 tries across three matches and top the competition in the fallow week. Business as usual.

You then look to France. Now under the guidance of François Ratier, the former Stade Bordelais and Canada boss has not wasted time putting his stamp on things. The Frenchman has included plenty of the nation’s top young talent in his Women’s Six Nations squad for this year, and handed out six debuts in their Championship opener against Italy in Grenoble.

None of those youngsters have struggled. In fact Pauline Barrat, Anaïs Grando, Mathilde Lazarko and Aubene Rousset have all thrived. All of a sudden this rejuvenated Les Bleues group seem like they can challenge the Red Roses for silverware again. In some ways they are performing beyond their years. England may well be having a look over their shoulder come mid-May.

Womens Six Nations

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

England Women

3

3

0

0

15

2

France Women

3

3

0

0

15

3

Italy Women

3

1

2

0

6

4

Ireland Women

3

1

2

0

5

5

Scotland Women

3

1

2

0

4

6

Wales Women

3

0

3

0

2

Scotland have a difficult road ahead

In two weekends Scotland have conceded 21 tries. A grand total of 24 if you throw in the win against Wales that kick-started Sione Fukofuka’s tenure as boss of the Scots.

That poor defensive record alone tells you how dire this Championship has been for Scotland, who have now lost two Women’s Six Nations clashes to Italy in a row. Their next game is against France at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh. Things may not get better soon.

There was an element of disruption as well. Rachel Malcolm with injury ahead of kick-off and Lana Skeldon took the armband. In truth no one stepped into the breach of Malcolm. The heartbeat of this Scotland side, the standard-setter, they are difficult shoes to fill. No one got close.

It should not be overlooked just how well Italy played. Their early bombardment in Parma meant that Scotland were stunned in the sun. There was no real way back for the side after Fabio Roselli’s team had the try scoring bonus point on 33 minutes.

For Scotland supporters, all you wanted to see was something. Something that did not come until the 52nd minute when the Azzurre had two players in the sin bin.