Street: Squad culture drives us on

England have had an arm-chair ride so far in this 6 Nations, with comfortable wins over Scotland and Italy. Street has used the opening two games to test some newer and younger faces, all part he says of a strategy of creating a thorough squad culture.

We have been trying to create a culture within the squad so that it isnt about what specific players are playing. What I didnt want is to be using the same 15 players for the next four years but instead we are developing a large group of players who understand how we want to play and who are getting a lot of experience playing for England. The players have really bought into that. So when I have to make that phone-call to tell a player they arent playing at the weekend, it is far less a feeling about being dropped because they know they have a great chance of coming back in the week after regardless of the result.

Street reckons that despite the team chopping and changing regularly the way in which England go about their business doesnt radically change as a result.

We have a style and structure that we want to play and the players all work very hard to get to grips with that so that whoever plays can go out and do it. We have new players coming in all the time and there is never a dramatic difference in the style we are playing which is exactly what I am after. Look at the back-row, the likes of Hannagh Gallagher, Marlie Packer and Izzy Noel-Smith playing instead of Maggie Alphonsi, Heather Fisher and so on and they have been fantastic. When everyone is back fit and available I will have real trouble picking the team that is for sure.

This weekend against Wales though there is a more settled look to the team. Katy McLean is back at flyhalf leading an experienced looking backline while on the bench is England powerhouse Maggie Alphonsi who has recovered from injury to make her first appearance of the year.

The win in Italy was great in tough circumstances with the game being moved and the weather being poor but I thought we played some really good rugby. We had some new faces in there, players like Ceri Large coming in for Katy and doing really well so I was pleased. What I want all players to be used to are high performance games and I would class Wales at Twickenham as one of those.

Wales are also technically unbeaten going into the game given their first match against Ireland was called off at halftime and their win against Scotland was comfortable. Street reckons it will certainly be Englands toughest test so far.

Wales are a big test for us and with the big crowd there and a TV audience I hope for womens rugby sake we can both contribute to a great game. For me the product of the womens game is massively important and I want people to come away from the game thinking that it was fantastic game of rugby. I have been impressed with Wales theyve got some exciting players and they scored at least one cracking try against Scotland. Players like Jamie Kift and Naomi Thomas are really key for them and if they are on form then they can really cause damage. Naomi is a class act at 10 and she is a big addition to their team again this year. I still remember well the loss we suffered to Wales a few years back and that still hurts. This is a big game for them and they are definitely capable of coming out and having the game of their lives at Twickenham.

One factor often forgotten about England is the large number of players unavailable to Street through injury. Top players like Danielle Waterman, Alice Richardson, Claire Allan, Charlotte Barras, Heather Fisher, Fiona Pocock, Fran Matthews, Becky Essex and Jo McGilChrist are all absent, something he says highlights the importance of building strength in depth before the next World Cup.

Weve got one hell of a list of players out injured if you add them all up they would make a pretty fantastic team but you have to get on with it.

Awaiting England post-Wales comes traditionally the biggest game in the womens 6 Nations of recent years, England V France.

We know the French game is probably the biggest match of this 6 Nations for us going away to them in a game that is never easy and playing in a big stadium on a rugby weekend in Paris, Street says.

It will be huge. Analysis wise we havent done much on them yet but I spoke to the Irish coach after last weekends game and they were desperately unlucky not to pull off what would have been a huge win for them. Its always really tough.

A well worn myth about this England set-up is that the RFUW are paying their top players to play rugby in fact England have not jumped on that wagon yet and at 15s at least, Street says his players probably deserve more credit.

We get that a lot you know England are professionals and so on when it simply isnt the case. Its a little frustrating for everyone when that is said. The facts are that our players, like every other player in the 6 Nations, get up early in the morning, head to the gym before their days work and train in the evening. One of the reasons the England girls are fitter and stronger than many other sides is simply because they work so incredibly hard.

Talk of professionalism inevitably turns to the 7s game where Street has watched with interest as a number of other nations have launched professional womens 7s sides in recent months. England are considered one of the leading 7s Nations but there are no plans to follow the same route just yet.

At some stage as we get closer to the Olympics and so on I am sure we will be in a situation where the programme will adapt to us having the players available a lot more to us but it is a while away yet. We are focusing on developing players through our various 7s pathways at the moment and providing the top players with world-class support and resources which is giving that group as close to a professional environment as possible without going the whole way just yet. Going down that route obviously costs a lot of money so at the moment its a balance between everything else we are trying to do. At the moment our planning for the game here goes right up to 2018 its a lengthy path and we need to be sure that the money we are spending long term is the right thing to do.