England women's team should play against men as Six Nations opponents not challenging enough says Brian Moore

England's women's team should play against men as their Six Nations opponents aren't challenging enough, Brian Moore has said.

The rugby commentator said that Scottish, Irish and Italian Unions needed to fund a professional women's game in order to provide a challenge to England's women, after they beat Scotland 5-57 over the weekend.

Wales gave 12 players professional contracts at the start of the year, and semi-pro deals to another 12, an investment that seemed to pay off as they beat Ireland 27-19 in Dublin having lost 45-0 last season.

But Brian Moore suggested that England, who have won four of the last five Six Nations, may have to look elsewhere for a greater level of challenge.

"If the England Women’s team cannot find the sort of physical and technical challenge that they need in ordinary fixtures against conventional opponents, they should look to see if it is possible to have structured training sessions and games against the England Under-18 or Under-20 male teams," he said.

"Purists might baulk at this sort of crossover and in an ideal world, where every Tier 1 union valued and invested in women’s rugby, this would not be necessary."

England is currently ranked in first place in the world, with New Zealand in second. Wales is in 11th place.

A great move from Wales sees off Ireland!

Ireland 19-27 Wales

📺 Live on BBC Two Wales and @BBCiPlayer

📻 @BBCRadioWales MW, DTV & Online via Sport & Sounds pic.twitter.com/3hTjranyfF

— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) March 26, 2022

Wales won the wooden spoon last year and had not won a game since 2019 but have already bettered that result with their victory over Ireland.

Wales had trailed 14-5 at half-time before late tries by Donna Rose and Hannah Jones.

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