It’s time for Women’s rugby to step back into the spotlight, as the 2024 Guinness Women’s Six Nations gets underway this weekend. England head into the competition as reigning champions, and commence a new era in the competition under their new head coach John Mitchell.
Long serving head coach Simon Middleton retired from the post last April, after England claimed their fifth consecutive Women’s Six Nations title. Middleton’s final match was the iconic Grand Slam decider against France, which set a new attendance record for a women’s rugby match. 58,498 fans packed themselves into Twickenham, to see Marlie Packer lead her side to the title, in a 38-33 ‘classique’.
Packer was amongst a host of international rugby talents, who attended London’s Marble Arch for the official launch event of the 2024 Women’s Six Nations this past week. The back-row was joined by her head coach ‘Mitch’, as well as the representative head coaches and captains of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy. England begin their Women’s Six Nations campaign with a trip to Parma, as they take on Italy in Sergio Lanfranchi Stadium, the home of United Rugby Championship side Zebre.
England and Italy will close out the weekend’s action on Sunday, with Saturday’s fixtures including France vs Ireland in Le Mans and Wales hosting Scotland at the Cardiff Arms Park. So, ahead of the opening weekend of the competition, let’s look back at the biggest talking points from each side, as they gear up for the 2024 Women’s Six Nations.
ENGLAND
2023 RECAP: Women’s Six Nations Champions & WXV1 Champions / WORLD RANKING: 1st (96.18)
John Mitchell has brought some fresh faces into the side, who are getting set to make their England debuts in the 2024 Women’s Six Nations. The head coach has called up three uncapped players, in the Exeter Chiefs duo of Maddie Feaunati and Lizzie Hanlon and Vicky Laflin of Trailfinders Women. Mitchell discussed what he’s seen from each player at the launch event press conference.
JOHN MITCHELL: “So Lizzie Hanlon from Exeter. Very shy girl but very hard working. But each camp that she’s come into, you can feel that she’s getting more confident, she’s getting clear on a role. We’re obviously adjusting some technical things as well, which she is very receptive to.”
“Maddie, I obviously spoke to her and her family in New Zealand. Obviously, we had to get through some red tape as well. I knew that she was in a in pre-season with the Hurricanes (since joined Exeter), so she’s going to be well prepared. You wouldn’t believe it, but I think Sarah (Hunter) and Louis (Deacon) were talking to her the other day, and she already understands just about 90% of the playbooks.
“So it’s like pretty exceptional, she’s obviously done some study and somebody within the team has obviously helped her with that as well which is really encouraging. She’s driven she, she wants to be the best. I like her attitude, I like her drive. Then we’ve got Vicky, as Katie Buchanan got a syndesmosis ankle injury, so Vicky got the call.”
“I’ve seen her train this morning, and she’s like any new player, having to learn a lot and adjust. I still think she’s got some attributes that can be one of the best wingers in the world, in the air. She has the ability to run with the ball, we’ll help her game in a couple of areas. She’s a good tackler, but I think she can add to her attacking game by adding a kick. So we’ll look to develop that with her.”
Marlie Packer is set to make her 100th England appearence against Italy, yet the Saracen is more excited to get her side back up and running rather than focus on her century milestone. Packer is excited to be joined by some returning England legends in the camp, as Emily Scarratt, Abby Ward and Zoe Harrison have all been named in the wider training squad.
MARLIE PACKER: “I’m just super excited to be fair, just more excited about kicking off the tournament. I think as you’ve seen the Red Roses in WXV, we’ve changed the way we’re playing. We’re now evolving, and I think we’ve had the break for PWR. We’ve all enjoyed that first half of the season. But now we’ve come together, we just want to get the Six Nations kicked off. About the 100th cap, it’s more of a ‘I just want to get out there and play’.
“We’ve got the likes of Abby Ward, Emily Scarratt and Zoe Harrison coming back. You know, those types of caliber players which we haven’t seen since that (2022) World Cup Final, actually, I think I’m more excited to see them come back in than for me to get my 100th cap, next week (against Italy) hopefully.”