‘A woman preaching is like a dog walking on his hind legs,’ said Samuel Johnson, ‘It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.’

This timeless apercu came to mind twice recently. The first time while I was reading Rod Liddle’s trashing of elite women’s soccer in this magazine, citing, in support of his thesis, the 7-0 thrashing of our Rio Olympic medal prospect Matildas by an under-15 Newcastle boys team.