And having taken over as captain from the now retired Catherine Spencer, McLean is looking to go one better across the channel.

“I hope that in three years time I will still be captaining England - there is no greater honour than captaining your country at a world cup,” said McLean, who led England to an RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam this year.

“And of course after finishing second at the last two world cups we want to go one better.

“Any team entering a world cup wants to win and we are no different. We need to keep building on our performances and ensure that we are fully prepared.

“It’s a long time off yet and we have other important challenges ahead first but at the end of the day we are all looking towards 2014.

“I think that this is a very exciting opportunity for France and European rugby as a whole and a great opportunity to build on the success on the 2010 World Cup that was staged here in England.

“France are an extremely competitive nation and I have always had great experiences when playing in France.

“They always manage to get great crowds at their international games, which creates a wonderful atmosphere and I’m sure that this won’t be any different in 2014.”