Hunt hungry to keep on learning

Although the destination of the 6 Nation titles is in neither of their hands, with France in pole position for a Grand Slam, there will be no less intensity around England??s clash with Wales next weekend.

Despite some narrow losses, Wales are yet to win a game in the competition and given the history of results between these two sides, they will be up against it to avoid ending up with the dreaded wooden spoon clash on the final weekend.

England on the other hand must keep winning, and by large margins, and hope that France slip-up to hope the tournament will be decided on points difference ?? though they currently trail Ireland in that department but not by much.

For scrum-half Natasha Hunt, the clash with Wales at The Stoop is huge.

??It was always going to be a big game for both sides and I think it will be incredibly physical. When teams play England they always raise their game and treat it like a Cup Final and I know Wales probably even more so will do that ?? Welsh teams never seem to like us very much!??

?˜??We know a lot about them and because a lot of their players played in the English Premiership this year, we know how good they can be.?˜ I watched their game against Ireland and they pushed them incredibly hard in terrible conditions. It??s a big occasion for both of us.??

The diminutive half-back has been climbing the ranks in England colours since her U20s days and having played plenty of her rugby at fullback, she adds a real running threat behind England??s pack.

Competing for a spot with La Toya Mason and her Lichfield teammate Georgina Gulliver, she says, is bringing out the best in her.

??I think we are all quite different in what we can bring to the game. ?˜I suppose I am more of a running 9 from my background playing in the back three and there??s often rotation between us depending on the kind of game the coaches want to play. I am always looking to improve and work on my weaknesses and I think we all learn from each other.??

Though relatively new to the senior England stage ?? Hunt??s playing in just her second 6 Nations having been involved in the 7s set-up last season ?? she is learning fast in one of the most competitive seasons ever in the women??s 6 Nations.

??The Ireland game was very fast and very physical. I thought for women??s rugby it was a very good game ?? there were two very strong teams who were very evenly matched in front of a big crowd and it was pretty tight. From our perspective there were some disappointments in some areas of our game but we got the win and that??s what we needed.??

??Looking back at the France game ?? it was just incredibly disappointing. We had actually gone into that game on the back of one of our best weeks of training I can remember. Everyone had been clicking and the buildup was good ?? but in hindsight maybe it was too good. Because we felt so positive we just took too long to react when it was going wrong on the field.??

??Credit to France they were excellent and they dominated us up front. We didn??t have any answer on the day and the game just seemed to pass us by. It was really important that we dealt with it and moved on. We analysed the game the next day and just switched focus to Scotland.?˜ You have to put those games to bed.??

Losing to France and then being pushed all the way by Ireland could be seen as ?˜ideal preparation for England in a World Cup year but are there worries around the squad about how quickly others have closed the gap on them?

??I think worried is the wrong word. If we??re going to lose a game, now is the time to do it and come out stronger from it. The France loss helped us change the way we are training to focus on things maybe that wouldn??t have been highlighted to us later in the year and I feel like we??re more on the same page now than we were.??

If fit, this summer will see Hunt play in her first World Cup and she??s relishing the thought.

??Women??s rugby in France is hugely supported and they get fantastic crowds so there couldn??t be a better place for this one. ?˜It??s not too soon to have the World Cup in our minds - that??s what this year is all about and everything we do is to build towards it. We need to focus on ourselves and get ourselves right and we??ve got a clear plan in terms of camps and games as to how we prepare for that competition.??

England will certainly be well prepared as they are set to meet for a week every month leading into the tournament before more intense camps and warm-up games in June/July.Hunt relies on the support of the school where she teaches PE at Sir Graham Balfour School in Stafford for time-off to fulfil her England dreams, which she expresses huge gratitude for.

At her best, Hunt presents a huge threat to the Welsh defence next weekend ?? England will need her firing.