England v Scotland: How Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final could renew old rivalry

Scotland have not been able to lay so much as a glove on England since however.

Instead it has been one-way traffic, with the Red Roses juggernaut steaming through Scotland again and again.

England have played Scotland 34 times in total, and, apart from those two defeats from another millennia, have won every time.

In the past five meetings, the average points difference between the teams has stretched to nearly 50.

The Auld Enemy has become old news; a rivalry devoid of jeopardy, a bitter punchline delivered on repeat for the Scots.

Kennedy believes the current gap between the teams is due to three things; structure, investment and raw numbers.

“There are a lot more players in England, firstly,” she says.

“Secondly, it is the pathways for players to become internationals. England set them up early on. They were ahead of every nation in that, not just Scotland.

“England were a lot quicker off the mark with investing in both sevens and XVs, which then feeds into domestic rugby. You don’t just become an international player, you have to come though those clubs.”

Kennedy is hopeful that the Celtic Challenge, a cross-border club competition with teams from Scotland, Ireland and Wales that launched in 2023, can provide a proving ground to rival England’s PWR in time.