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This was, in the words of Gary Barlow, a very nice day out for English rugby fans.

There were 14 home tries in front of a Twickenham crowd of 48,778. The sun shone and there was a half-time performance from Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who delivered her trademark hit.

John Mitchell’s side stayed on course for a third straight Grand Slam and now only France in Bordeaux next Saturday stand between them and another clean sweep.

There was only one problem. Like England’s previous three Championship games, this was a total sporting non-contest. It was entirely one-sided, with the Red Roses utterly dominant.

The lack of competition in the Women’s Six Nations is starting to become a big problem with only France capable of giving England anything to worry about. For its sporting integrity, the female Championship badly needs to be more than just a one-team competition.

That is exactly what it is currently. It is not England’s fault. The RFU led the way in professionalising women’s rugby. They deserve credit for doing so and have been suitably rewarded.

But despite other teams following England in awarding full-time contracts, the gap between them and the top seems to be widening not narrowing.

There is no easy answer to this conundrum, but the simple truth is other teams will continue to get nowhere near England unless their unions maintain investment in the women’s game.

‘We laid down the challenge to the girls to step up this week and they certainly did that,’ said England head coach Mitchell. ‘It’s hard to say, but we can get a lot better. I’m sure some people will chat about the competitiveness but at the end of the day we drive ourselves. That’s all we can focus on.’