The Red Roses machine marches on, and so does the question of who on earth can stop them. With a trip to face Italy in Parma up next, John Mitchell’s side appear to be cruising to another Six Nations Grand Slam, even if their biggest test yet remains with their final-round trip to Bordeaux to face France.

If the result was never in doubt, there were still reasons for Wales to take pride in their performance, and they deservedly secured a four-try bonus point with the final play of the game when Seren Lockwood dived over in the right-hand corner for what was their highest-ever score against England. There was a stunning performance, too, from scrum-half Keira Bevan, whose sniping runs and relentless doggedness typified the resistance by a Wales side even when they were being outclassed.

Yet it says much about the huge gap in financial support and playing resources between the two sides that the best Wales-born player on the pitch was England captain Meg Jones, who scored two stunning tries and helped create another as Mitchell’s side eased to a 10-try victory, to back up wins against Ireland and Scotland.

Jones’s dad Simon was a pipe-fitter welder from Cardiff, she grew up in Ely and she famously once had a trial for Wales Schoolboys Under-12s, which remains her favourite rugby memory. She was raised watching the Six Nations glory days of Warren Gatland’s men, yet not long after moving to Hartpury College at the age of 16 to develop her career, she decided to commit to England, the land of her mother Paula, because of the better pathway and structure on offer.

She has long come to terms with playing against Wales and yet she admitted this match, her first as England captain against them, was a special moment and she dedicated it to the memory of her parents, who both passed away two years ago.

“Without getting too dark, I lost my mum and dad in 2024, so this game feels more of a tribute when I play as well, which is quite nice,” said Jones, who also answered questions in the post-match press conference in Welsh. “I feel like I can kind of represent them and think of them in that space. So yeah, there’s a little emotion, but I’m also a professional athlete.

“I’m a competitor – I’m very good at switching on and off, it’s probably one of my strengths. When I’m on, I’m really focused and I’m on, and then when I’m off – probably tonight when I’m at home with my partner Celia – I’ll get to take it in a little bit more and probably think about it from an outside perspective.

“It’s probably something we forget as athletes as well, how important this game is, particularly when you play each week. Probably high emotion for me.”

These are tough times for Welsh rugby, on and off the pitch, and Jones admits she still takes a keen interest. “I have a lot of good friends in Wales and I care for them,” she added. “I always want the game to get better, like that’s just natural.”

One wonders what a difference she would have made in the red of Wales. Mitchell, who is missing 17 players to either injury or pregnancy, heaped the highest of praise on his captain.

“She’s very good with connections, she’ll read shoulders and if defender turns in, she can burn you on the outside to bring others into the play. She’s a triple-threat, isn’t she? So if you look at the number of touches she got today, and when she drives out the line, there’s probably no better player in the world.”

Mitchell has two more injury concerns, with Sadia Kabeya picking up a shoulder injury while Millie David, who marked her Test debut with a try at her home stadium, when off for a head injury assessment, but such is the remarkable strength in depth that even short of their best, they once again scored more than 50 points, taking their total after three games to 179.

The concern for the Women’s Six Nations right now is England’s utter dominance has removed any sense of jeopardy. That is not to say that the crowd of 26,247 at Ashton Gate were not entertained. This England side may not have been at their ruthless best, but the quality of the rugby is at times breathtaking, and they were able to dismantle Wales with their forward power – Marlie Packer scored twice and was player of the match – but also with the attacking verve of Jones, Ellie Kildunne and the hugely impressive Claudia Moloney-MacDonald on the left wing.

Sean Lynn, the Wales head coach, insists he is confident that his side can close the gap on England, even if he could not commit to a timeframe.

“I am very proud of the character the girls showed for the 80 minutes,” he said. “We are still disappointed we leaked 62, but the character we did show there to get that bonus point [is good]. The areas we are looking at, we are moving closer.

“I said to the girls going into this game, it’s all about us. Let’s just make sure that we are working on areas that we’ve been looking at from the France game, and we ticked those boxes, and now we know when we’re going up against the Red Roses, who are the best in the world, the areas now we need to be getting right as well. I would like to say we can catch them [England].”

Match details

Scoring sequence: 5-0 Feaunati try, 7-0 Rowland con, 12-0 David try, 12-5 Bevan try, 12-7 Bevan con, 17-7 Packer try, 19-7 Packer, Rowland con, 24-7 Jones try, 24-12 Jones try, 29-12 Jones try, 34-12 Cokayne try, 36-12 Rowland con, 41-12 Moloney-MacDonald try, 46-12 Breach try, 48-12 Harrison con, 53-12 Packer try, 55-12 Harrison con, 55-17 Lewis try, 55-19 Bevan con, 60-19 Muir try, 62-19 Harrison con, 62-24 Lockwood try.

England: E Kildunne; M David (J Breach 19), M Jones (captain), H Rowland (Z Harrison 60), C Moloney-MacDonald; H Aitchison, L Packer (F Robinson 53); M Carson (K Clifford 53), A Cokayne (C Powell), S Bern (M Muir 53), A Burton (H Lutui 60), D Burns, S Kabeya (D Short 21), M Packer, M Feaunati.

Wales: K Powell; S Singleton (C Richards 50, S Lockwood 55), C Keight, J de Vera (F Bell 74), J Joyce; L George, K Bevan; G Pyrs (M Davies 53), K Jones (M Reardon 60), S Tuipulotu (D Rose 63), J Aiono (G Evans 55), G Crabb, B Metcalfe (A Joyce 55), B Lewis (captain, B King.
Sin-bin: K Powell 52.

Referee: E Goldsmith (Aus). Attendance: 26,247.