WITHIN THE England camp, they call it Growing the Gap. Striving to be 1% better in everything they do, the stuff they’re good at and the stuff they’re not so good at. Because if every player in a successful team improves, how can they fail?
For the Red Roses, WXV1 champions and beaten just three times in their last 60 matches, another hoped-for Six Nations Grand Slam would just be a stepping stone towards the 2025 Rugby World Cup being held in their country.
“Everything is done with the World Cup as the end goal,” says fly-half Holly Aitchison. “We have smaller goals, narrowing it down to chunks of time. Mitch (John Mitchell, head coach) is driven by having the best 30 at a World Cup and that’s the biggest difference I’ve noticed with him coming in. The focus being on the 30 rather than the 15 or the 23 that play on match day. Injuries happen and we need to have a squad that can all perform at
