England’s 2024 Women’s Six Nations campaign rolls on this weekend, with the Red Roses set for an exhilarating battle with Scotland at a sold out Edinburgh Hive Stadium. There was plenty to discuss within today’s press conference, that did not feature regular England captain Marlie Packer.
The back-row has instead been named amongst the replacements for the trip North of the border, in what is an interesting selection choice from Mitchell. There was plenty to decipher from the team selection, with three Red Roses confirmed to be out of the plans due to injury. Helena Rowland will miss the remainder of the tournament after having surgery on her finger, whilst Lark Atkin-Davies continues her concussion return to play.
It was also confirmed this morning that Poppy Cleall suffered a laceration on her right knee, which she has been unable to recover from in time for this Saturday’s fixture. However, Mitchell is hopeful to see the Saracen back in the white shirt for the rest of the tournament. With plenty of discussions going on in the realm of women’s rugby, Aldcroft and Mitchell discussed all from team selection, Scottish expectations, and the reported trialling of smaller rugby balls in the women’s game.
5 TALKING POINTS: ENGLAND PRESS CONFERENCE – ZOE ALDCROFT & JOHN MITCHELL
1. ZOE ALDCROFT CAPTAINING THE RED ROSES IN A NEW POSITION
The most immediate talking point was the selection of a new captain, as John Mitchell has moved Marlie Packer to the replacements bench for the match with Scotland. In her absence from the starting XV, the Red Roses will be led out by Gloucester-Hartpury’s Zoe Aldcroft, with the regular lock even moving across the pack to the blindside flank.
As Packer takes a seat amongst the replacements for her first time in her captaincy, Mitchell reinforced that ‘there’s no such thing as rotation’. The Saracen centurion looks to have been surpassed to the starting spot this week, with Loughborough Lightning’s Sadia Kebeya taking up the seven shirt. Kebeya also has the honour of being first-reserve captain, should there be a moment in the match without both Aldcroft and Packer on the pitch.
ZOE ALDCROFT: “Honestly, it’s just an unbelievable opportunity to be able to do it (captain England), I think in the group as it is, there’s so many like dominant leaders. And it’s just great to be able to kind of be at the head of that and direct the team around the pitch.
“Not particularly (differences playing flanker), I only really recognise it off the off the side of the scrum kind of thing. Packer was giving me some tips not to put the hand flat, but to put it like this (as a first), I got very badly stood on yesterday. So it’s just give me some tips there. But no, for me, I just go into the game with the same sort of focus in trying to get around the park as much as I can.”
“I think like you can see how much energy she (Scotland flanker and captain Rachel Malcolm) brings to a team, she’s obviously a very smiley character. You always see that and I think the Scotland girls really look up to and I think she’s a great leader to have playing with the Scotland team.
JOHN MITCHELL: “We want to raise our game and raise our level of performance. We’re really mindful about that. Against Wales we felt we didn’t finish the game as good as we could have. We want to take ownership of that. There’s lots of competition with the group for positions.
“There’s no such thing as rotation. This squad is selected for Scotland. The previous two selections were based on the short turnaround which we had to manage, both athlete and team. This squad is purely selected for Scotland.”
“It (captaincy) would go to Sadia. All those girls (Aldcroft, Packer & Kabeya) are in our leader group. So we always make sure that we are utilising our leader group, and they’re blossoming, they’re growing a lot from when they first started. I think they have grown enormously, they’re they’re good at listening, they’re good at challenging, their awareness has grown a lot more.
“So the more exposure that we can give the girls to leadership because as you know, we’re not always guaranteed to have the same people on the pitch each week or available. So I think we are just really preparing for every test match as it is. Take it, earn it, but ultimately we’ve just also got to be ready for in case somebody’s not available.”
2. EMILY SCARRATT ONCE AGAIN NOT SELECTED FOR ENGLAND
After marking her return to the Red Roses with a 50 minute run out against Italy, England centurion Emily Scarratt was then not selected for the second round of the competition. Scarratt played no part in the win over Wales at Ashton Gate, with the centre reportedly battling through a calf-Achilles injury that has kept her away from her revered best.
‘Scaz’ has battled back to the Red Roses after a lengthy time out with injury. The Loughborugh Lightning star has pushed through neck, knee and ankle injuries in the past 12 months, to earn her spot amongst Mitchell’s wider squad for 2024 Six Nations. Mitchell’s latest update on the centurion explains why she has missed out on the trip to Edinburgh.
JOHN MITCHELL: “She is progressing nicely. She still hasn’t been able to do a full week (of training). She’s come out of yesterday’s session well so that’s a really good sign. Tomorrow’s session will be a lot faster and if she gets through tomorrow that presents a good case for her in the next two weeks.
“Yes, she’s training at 12. She still trains at 13 as well because she’s got good experience at 13. But the most important message you need to hear is that she needs to be 100% fit. When she’s 100% that’s a different story, because we have got girls who are 100% fit and that’s what we go for basically. The girls understand that they have to be 100% because there’s so much competition within the group. Anyone is capable of replacing anyone as far as I see it.”