United States 12 England 55

English rugby chiefs have been on a charm offensive in the United States this week, but the players on the pitch opted for more of a brute-force approach.

The Red Roses were in the unfamiliar position of coming off the back of successive defeats and Meg Jones had called on her team to respond. They certainly did that, looking far more like world champions than they have over the past fortnight with a convincing nine - try win – four of them scored by Claudia Moloney-MacDonald – albeit there is still room for them to “grow”, as Jones put it after the game.

That is what the Rugby Football Union (RFU) have been trying to do off the field. Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, and his colleagues used this fixture in New Jersey as an opportunity to tap into the US market by “creating connections” with business leaders and potential investors.

It is little wonder English rugby is trying to get a piece of the American pie.…