Simon Middleton backs RFU to build on Red Roses' first advance sell-out

Simon Middleton is confident the Rugby Football Union will take stock of the growing attendances at England women’s Six Nations ­fixtures when deciding on future venues for the competition.

The Red Roses face Ireland at a sell-out Castle Park in Doncaster ­on Sunday for their first home game of this year’s tournament. The Yorkshire stadium, home to Championship club Doncaster Knights, has a capacity of 5,007, which is less than half the 10,545 record attendance for an England Women ­ticketed home game.

That number could be smashed when England face Wales at the Stoop on March 7 after Harlequins told Telegraph Sport the club had already sold more than 8,000 tickets for that fixture.

When asked whether his side ­deserved to be playing in bigger-capacity men’s Premiership grounds, Middleton said: “We want to play the game around the country and we’ve had great success in doing that. This is the first time we’ve actually sold a ground out in advance. The attendances have got bigger and bigger every time we’ve played and now it’s sold out, which is absolutely fantastic.

“Like everything, you get to the end of the competition and the RFU will take stock of where the games have been played and what the next move needs to be in terms of whether we have bigger grounds or not.

“Playing at a Championship ground is generally more accessible than a Premiership ground seems to be. The powers that be – I’ll be absolutely honest – decide strategically where the game goes next.

“One thing we know for sure is that wherever we go, it will be with the best intentions for the Red Roses, for the people who want to come and watch and it will be with the growth of the game in mind.”

Ireland are the only other unbeaten team in the competition and Middleton has brought Katy Daley-Mclean back into the fold at fly-half in an effort to maintain the defence of their Grand Slam title. Jess Breach scored a hat-trick during England’s last outing at Castle Park, against France in last year’s tournament, and with 21 tries in 12 Tests, the winger could add to that impressive tally.

Middleton also revealed his side had been forced to alter their training week following their rescheduled 53-0 victory against Scotland at Murrayfield a fortnight ago.

“The weather during our training sessions this week has presented a fair few challenges,” he said. “It’s been almost impossible to get through the quality of work we wanted to on the field, so our mental approach to the game and our attitude will be key.”

Team details

England v Ireland, Castle Park, Doncaster 12.45pm Sunday. Live on Sky Sports

England: S McKenna; A Dow, E Scarratt, A Reed, J Breach; K Daley-Mclean, L Riley; V Cornborough, L Davies, S Bern, P Cleall, Z Aldcroft, S Beckett, V Fleetwood, S Hunter (capt).
Replacements: A Cokayne, D Harper, S Brown, H Millar-Mills, A Harper, N Hunt, Z Harrison, E Scott, H Kerr.
Ireland: E Considine; L Delany, S Naoupu, K Fitzhenry, A Doyle; C Keohane, K Dane; L Peat, C Moloney, L Djougang, A McDermott, J Bobbett, C Griffin (capt), E McMahon, A Caplice.
Replacements: V Dabanovich, O’Mahony, L Feely, L Lyons, C Cooney, D Wall, N Cronin, L Muldoon, H Tyrrell.

Sunday’s other fixtures

Wales v France, Cardiff Arms Park, 12pm. Live on S4C.
Italy v Scotland, Stadio Giovanni Mari, Legnano 5.10pm. Live streaming on BBC Sport website.