There aren’t many fairytales in sport, but it felt like we’d just witnessed one of them: a side whose captain had poured her World Cup heartbreak into a history-making campaign - record-breaking, table-topping, and then playoffs conquering at the very first time of asking. There’s already plenty of chat about next season - sport is relentless and unrelenting, as we know - but some moments are worth dwelling on, and this was certainly one of those.
Simon Middleton is spoiled for choice. There are so many brilliant Red Roses available to him, and despite this looking set to be the most professionalised edition of the Six Nations yet -their title defence feels inevitable.