After a little over a month of intense physical preparation, France women are about to get down to business. Into the thick of it, you might even say, given the task awaiting them. On Saturday at the André and Guy Boniface brothers’ stadium in Mont-de-Marsan, the players of the David Ortiz-Gaëlle Mignot duo will try to justify the litres of sweat produced this summer in their only warm-up test before the World Cup. And not against just anyone, because lining up opposite them will be England.

Which is neither more nor less than France’s bogey side, one they have not beaten since March 2018 and a Six Nations meeting (18-17). In figures, that makes 13 wins in a row for England, enough to give them a fair dose of confidence heading into this game. All the more so as they banked plenty of it only last week in a test against Spain – also qualified for the World Cup – that turned into a bullfight (97-7).

“Measuring ourselves against the best”

So why on earth pick that particular opponent in the schedule, at a time when the French players, who have not “played a match” for several weeks, need to bank positives and turn up with as many certainties as possible at this World Cup they have been preparing for over three years?

“We didn’t decide this yesterday, Gaëlle Mignot counters. The intention is clearly to measure ourselves against the best. Against them, as against New Zealand or Canada, you pay cash for the slightest mistake. It will also let us identify and put our finger on what isn’t working. If you want to get better, you have to play against the best. Lastly, it will let us take a staging-post reading of our preparation, knowing that it will be different again at the World Cup.”

A desire to size themselves up against the best European team of recent years that is shared by scrum-half Alexandra Chambon, who should start on Saturday. “We’re keen to validate our preparation, to show that we’re ready and to take our measure. What is hugely positive about facing England in a warm-up match is the chance to test ourselves against potentially the best there will be at this World Cup.” An opponent France may well run into again in a month’s time if they reach the target they have set themselves: reaching the semi-finals and then, who knows, dreaming bigger still.