Women’s Six Nations: will anyone stop England’s conveyor belt of talent?

Despite a raft of absences, world champions have such depth they will begin the 2026 tournament as firm favourites

If there isn’t a conspiracy theory out there about England having a factory that churns out world-class players then there should be. The Red Roses squad will be without eight Rugby World Cup winners because of injury, pregnancies and retirements for the Women’s Six Nations but they are still overwhelming favourites for a grand slam.

For others, a squad so depleted would throw their campaign into chaos, but not for England. Abby Dow has retired? The brilliant Claudia Moloney-MacDonald can be brought in. The captain, Zoe Stratford, is pregnant? The World Rugby player of the year nominee Meg Jones steps up to take the armband. The seemingly endless conveyor belt of generational stars at England’s disposal is why they have been able to dominate the world stage for the past few years. That and bringing in full-time contracts before anyone else.