Women's Six Nations: England prop Sarah Bern says rivals France are 'a different level'

England prop Sarah Bern says Six Nations title rivals France are "a different level" as her side prepares for their showdown on Sunday.

The Red Roses thrashed Ireland 51-7 in their opening match in Dublin, while France eased past Wales.

England and France are expected to dominate this year's tournament, with the second-round game in Doncaster billed as the possible title decider.

"This is going to be the biggest game for us," Bern told Rugby Union Weekly.

"The French pack are heavy, really physical and they know their stuff. They showed against Wales they are going to be attacking those breakdowns, so if we make an error, they will definitely score from it.

"We know if anything goes wrong at our end they will take advantage and they have the same amount of passion, so it's going to be a really hard game."

England were denied a second successive Six Nations title in 2018 as France beat them 18-17 en route to a Grand Slam.

But while Simon Middleton's side announced 28 full-time contracts in January including 21-year-old Bern, France are still operating as a part-time outfit.

"We've only been full-time for a couple of weeks," added Bern. "But our rest and recovery is probably the biggest change we've had.

"Players are now allowed to have that day off where originally they would've had to go back to work."

Bern returned to the England side on Friday after a run of injuries kept her out for nearly a year, and marked the occasion with a try.

The 21-cap forward described the game as a "massive milestone", but says there is now more competition for places in the front row.

"Coming back from injury into a new squad with a new forwards coach, I had to learn a lot and catch up," she said.

"I was really nervous when I found out I was starting and I knew I needed to ignore everything and enjoy it.

"But that was my favourite game in an international shirt and that showed in my performance. I didn't want to get off the pitch.

"When I went to the 2017 World Cup I was the baby of the squad and I was a new kind of prop, but coming back to it after my injury I'm now seen as one of the older ones.

"Everyone is doing the same kind of thing and it's a real fight now for that shirt, but it's exciting we have all this new talent coming through."