But since then a disappointing 25-0 defeat to Ireland and the 30-20 reversal against France at Twickenham have put their hopes of retaining their title in real jeopardy.

But No.8 Hunter, who notched two tries in the comprehensive opening weekend win over Scotland, has urged her teammates to recall previous successes ahead of next weekend’s clash against Italy.

“We do have to dig deep and fight and keep pushing but the squad has got the ability and the talent, we haven’t become bad players overnight and we really need to believe in that,” said Hunter.

“We didn’t play our best rugby against France, a lot of times we made too many unforced errors, too many mistakes that let them back into the game

“We talked a lot after Ireland about how we were going to move forward, but ultimately we didn’t do enough and didn’t do well enough.”