30 March 2021

Sarah Hunter says new format of Women’s Six Nations won’t change England mindset

30 March 2021

England captain Sarah Hunter insists the reduced format of the delayed Women’s Six Nations will not take any gloss off the tournament.

The Six Nations, revamped due to the coronavirus pandemic, begins on Saturday and will be played across four weekends in April.

Rather than play each team, countries will be split into two pools and play two group games – one home and one away – before a finals Saturday on April 24.

That means there will be no Grand Slam on offer for holders England, who begin their campaign against Scotland at Castle Park, Doncaster, on Saturday.

But Hunter said: “It’s not something I’ve thought about. You get so focused on a game.

“First it’s Scotland, and then it’s about how we prepare over the next few weeks to get ourselves to that final game. Ultimately it’s about winning a Six Nations.

“What you classify it as is not down to us as players and it won’t change our mindset about what we want to do or how we want to do it. We’ll leave that down to the organisers.”

France face Wales on the same day in an evening kick-off at Stade de la Rabine in Vannes.

Round two takes place on Saturday, April 10, when England play Italy in Padova while Wales take on Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park.

The pool stage concludes the following week with France travelling to Ireland before Scotland host Italy.

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