The Guinness Women's Six Nations resumes on Saturday, with England looking to pick up where they left off. Not only have they won their first two matches in 2024 - against Italy and Wales - but they have won the last five titles.
In rounds four and five they have Ireland and France to come, but for now all of the focus is on round three and the challenge of an ever-improving Scotland at a sold-out Hive Stadium this Saturday.
And the England squad have been channelling their inner darts talents Fallon Sherrock and Beau Greaves away from the training pitch of late to make sure they really hit the mark when it comes to game day.
“We are really excited heading into this weekend. We had a few days off after round two and we reset and everyone has really been enjoying being back in camp over the last week or so,” Galligan, the 25-year-old Saracens second-row who has been named in the starting XV for this one, said.
“We have a great bond among us off the pitch at the minute. People may have seen on social media that we had a darts night in camp the other day and that was really fun.
“Those connections and relationships that we are building off the pitch are really helping and paying dividends when we get on the pitch.
“Training in recent days has been about hitting the ground running and preparing for what is going to be a big game on Saturday.”
So far in the Championship, Scotland have beaten Wales away for the first time in 20 years and pushed France close before a loss, and Bryan Easson’s charges have been buoyed by the fact that a record 7,774 tickets have been sold for this one.
Galligan stated: “We know that Scotland are improving and that they are a really fit team. They like to keep the ball in play for as long as possible, so we want to counteract them in that area and we want to be the fittest team in the competition.
“We know that they have some talismans in their team: Helen Nelson at 10 is a massive threat, so for us it is about nullifying her when they have the ball and then coming away with points when we are attacking and get into their scoring zone.
“We are still getting used to the new structures and what the coaching staff are looking for from us, but we are starting to see those structures coming to the fore and we are building really nicely, I feel.”
Last time out against Wales a fortnight ago, Galligan was among the England try scorers in a 46-10 victory at Ashton Gate in Bristol in front of a crowd of 19,705 - a Red Roses record away from Twickenham.
“It was a really special day for me and for the team, one of my favourite moments was when Abby Dow made a break down the line and you just heard the crowd erupt, the atmosphere was brilliant,” Galligan recounted.
“It gave me goosebumps while playing and that was quite a surreal moment, but it just shows how far the game has come that crowds like that are becoming the norm and it is great to hear that we will be playing in front of a sold out crowd in Edinburgh this weekend.
“The competition really is growing year on year with fans in all of the countries really getting behind it so these are exciting times.”
As with all positions in the England matchday 23, second-row has a lot of competition and when asked what her unique selling points as a player are, Galligan replied: “For me it is probably my speed across the floor in set piece, so in the lineout, and the Wales game was really fun for me as I managed to steal a few lineouts.
“I also like to move the ball, I used to be a centre back in the day so being able to play a bit of rugby as a forward is good and getting the head up and seeing what is on in attack.
“I just try to do my job for the team to the best of my ability.”
Galligan’s second-row partner against Scotland will be Abbie Ward, and recently she was the focus of the ITVX documentary, A Bump in the Road, which followed the Bristol Bears player’s journey to get back to playing rugby just 17 weeks after the birth of her first child last year.
“We had a preview night and watched it before it came out and we sat in the team room with popcorn,” Galligan revealed.
“To see what Abbie has been through and a softer side to her was nice because when she is playing she flicks a switch and she is fully ‘on it’, but the documentary shows that you can be a world-class athlete and be a mum and that is great for women - and lots of others - to see.”
Scotland v England kicks off at 14:15 BST this Saturday (live on BBC).
