France by contrast are now very much in contention, ahead of this weekend’s trip to Ireland, but Grand admits there are some regrets when they look back to their opening day RBS 6 Nations defeat to Italy.

Ireland are on a very good run themselves, having won three out of three so far to wrap up the Triple Crown and qualification for the World Cup in France.

Grand said: “Of course if you look at it, if we had beaten Italy we would be on for a Grand Slam but we have bounced back with the wins over Wales and England .

“We can still win the tournament and we have two games against Ireland and Scotland to concentrate on now.”

Skipper and scrum-half Marie-Alice Yahé said: “Beyond winning at Twickenham it was good to beat the English, it had been a while since we had last beaten them, especially away from home.

“To win at Twickenham was the cherry on top and went some way to avenging the guys.”