LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - When France edged England by a point in Grenoble to win the 2018 Women's Six Nations title nobody could have possibly imagined that, eight years later, that would remain the Red Roses' last defeat in a competition they have utterly dominated since.
On Sunday, Europe's top two meet again in Bordeaux with a Grand Slam on the line after both won their first four games, but it will require something extra special for the French to repeat their victory of 2018 and prevent England chalking up an eighth successive title.
England are on a world record 37-match unbeaten run going back to the 2022 Women's Rugby World Cup final defeat by New Zealand, and that came after a 30-match run and so remains the only blip in 68 games spanning seven years.
Even that painful memory was partially eradicated last September when they beat Canada to win the World Cup and underlined their status as one of the most dominant sides in any major team sport.
In the Six Nations they have won 34 games in a row since that Grenoble stumble and the only reason every title was not a Grand Slam was that the 2021 format was changed because of Covid - though they still won all their matches.
Since their first, tentative steps into professionalism in 2018, England have raced away from the rest of the world in just about every aspect of the game.
The depth of the Premiership Women's Rugby has meant that this season they seamlessly dealt with losing a swathe of their World Cup squad to injury, retirement and pregnancy, continuing to swat away all comers with barely a stumble.
They have averaged a remarkable 60 points and nine tries per game in hammering Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy but, ever the perfectionist, coach John Mitchell is far from sitting on his laurels, especially after allowing Italy to claim a four-try bonus point in last week's 61-33 England win.
"I'm probably at my worst when we win because I drive to raise the floor even more," Mitchell said. "We're clearly very fortunate to have great depth and our depth is extremely tested but we are nowhere near where we need to be. We're still an unfinished rugby team in many ways. We'll just keep going."
Mitchell will also spend the week reminding his squad of last year's decider, which England won 43-42 after France had fought back from 31-7 down midway through the first half.
France attacked with pace and ambition, forcing England into levels of discomfort and vulnerability that few teams have managed in a performance that has given them real belief about this week's meeting.
Their long losing run in the fixture now feels less psychological than technical and France feel they can go toe to toe, though they will need more discipline than they have shown in this campaign.
Their speed, offloading game and willingness to attack from broken play can unsettle England in ways most teams cannot. The Red Roses remain stronger at set piece, deeper on the bench and more clinical under pressure, but France's best passages have shown they can stretch the champions and drag them into errors.
So France's chances are real, but conditional. If they achieve parity up front, limit the impact of England's incredible try-scoring maul, stay disciplined and turn momentum into points, this is their best opportunity in years to end England's grip on the title and do the whole women's game a huge favour.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, additional reporting by Julien Pretot, editing by Christian Radnedge)
