However, she recovered to earn her place in the England squad that finished as runners-up in the Rugby World Cup in 2022. She says the Red Roses are putting in unprecedented levels of conditioning work to go one better next year.

"It has been such a tough pre-season for the girls, a lot of the older girls will say it is the toughest they have ever done," said Galligan.

"We are seeing all our hard work pay off and it is coming through in our performances. Our amount of ball-in-play time has gone up massively. If we are finding that hard as one of the fittest teams, then imagine what the opposition are feeling.

"We have also played more in our own half. In the past that has never been the case, it has been a traditional kick out and then try and make up ground on the opposition side of the field."

England's wins over France and New Zealand earlier this month stretched their winning streak to 17 matches before the start of the WXV1 tournament in Canada this weekend.

England start their title defence against the United States on Sunday.