England, who are reigning RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam champions in the VX format, booked their place in the final of round one after a convincing 24-7 victory over the hosts Netherlands – Rachel Burford scoring two tries.

But after a less-than-dominant display against the Spanish, Maddocks believes there is room for improvement when his side head to Moscow later this month.

He said: “We were not as clinical in the final, and certainly did not play to our best – we know we are capable of more – but that is another stepping stone for us to look at and improve on for the final tournament of this season. However, it is great to see the girls digging deep and fulfilling our targets for this tournament.

“This has been a challenging tournament especially the final against Spain, where they battled all the way.

“We are delighted to have won this title which puts us in a really good position ahead of the final round in Moscow later this month.”