"One Shot, One Kill" - 5 Talking Points: England 46-10 Wales - Red Roses Press Conference Women's Six Nations

The Red Roses found their way to the try-line in a variety of forms, with head coach John Mitchell delighted to see so many attacking options within his side. Seven separate scorers crossed over for England, as Maud Muir, Zoe Aldcroft, Hannah Botterman, Lark Atkin-Davies, Rosie Galligan and Abby Dow built an unobtainable lead, alongside a brace for flying fullback Ellie Kildunne.

Mitchell was joined by his Red Roses captain Marlie Packer after the match, as the two hosted a press conference for the reporting journalists at Ashton Gate. Here are the five biggest talking points from the conference, as England marched on victorious into the first fallow week of the 2024 Women's Six Nations.

It is well known on the test match circuit, that the Red Roses have a formidable rolling maul that more often than not brings in tries. However, instead of kicking to the corner and trundling over the try-line, England opted to send the ball through the backs more often than not, with only one score coming from their tried and tested set-piece. Marlie Packer spoke about this change of tactics, as Lark Atkin-Davies was the sole scorer from the maul drive:

MARLIE PACKER: "I think for us, it's about letting the handbrake off. Whether that's set piece like one shot, one kill, we talked about that in training. And just before that, that break in halftime, that's what we talked about our set piece and we got that try.

"But also then the way our backs want to play, we want to let the handbrake off and play and, you know, balls will go down at some point in the game because of how we're trying to play. But hopefully it's, you know, exciting rugby and we had 19,000 fans here today, probably many more (watching) on TV, we want them to keep coming back and you know, we want them to see some real good rugby."

JOHN MITCHELL: "Yeah, that, it has been a focal point, without taking away our strengths as well. So I think we're very fortunate that we can probably three different types of games. So based on the context of the game, as you saw today, we went to the edge and won the edge early which got us into the game there. It's what we're after.

"And there were times where we went to our power game. And there were times where we also went to an extra kick chase game, which gives us energy. So yeah, I think to be a good team, a really, really good team and for this team to grow, we have to find ways to score in different ways. And we also need to make sure that we can play the game in different ways and be adaptable to that."

Mitchell rolled the dice with his selection for the Wales test week, and named a first time ever midfield partnership of Tatyana Heard and Megan Jones. There was a prominent focus on Cardiff born and raised Jones in the 13 jersey, as she ran out a solid performance in her first fixture against the country of her birth. Mitchell discussed the centre pairing after the match, and discussed how the Gloucester-Hartpury and Leicester Tigers stars 'complement each other well'.

JOHN MITCHELL: "Yeah, I mean, I think they complement each other really well don't they? One's very direct, and the other's very good also front-line, mine, but can also (they) are clever with there speed and I guess in the second layer of attack. So yeah, we're pretty fortunate that they do complement each other, as you say."

"Always, you know, the game doesn't always go for you in attack. So you got to be good on the other side of the ball. And especially when you defend your own goal it's a critical, I guess it's an emotional thing that you can gain energy from as well. Which I think we were able to break out a few times from that last five meters. It's a system, in that area that the starting point starts with the maul 'D' (defence) that's a critical system and then it's how hard you work out of it. So yeah, I think we're making good strides in that area."

During the pre-match conference heading into the Wales test, Mitchell explained how Helena Rowland will miss the fixture due to an injured finger. However, the head coach was unable to give any further details at that time, with a more recent update available following the match. Rowland has fractured her finger, and requires metal screws for it to be put back together. Explaining the extent of the injury to the Loughborough Lightning star, as well as Lark Atkin-Davies' head injury assessment.

JOHN MITCHELL: "We've received the bad news around Helena she will need… it is a fracture that will need to be screwed. So it's unfortunate for her she's going to miss the remainder of six nations. And then Lark's just going through mandatory HIA, so she'll be available again for Scotland. So she'll come into fallow we can go through that process."

England fly half Holly Aitchison did not have her best day from the kicking tee, with a success rate of three from eight total shots at goal. The elements at Ashton Gate played a factor, as the swirling winds were deceptive and had a significant impact on day's goal-kicking. Wing Abby Dow was often seen giving Aitchison instructions ahead of her conversion attempts, and John Mitchell explained the miss-communication in play at those moments.

JOHN MITCHELL: "I think she (Holly Aitchison) was waiting (for Abby) to put a finger on the ball, because it was actually windier down there, then what one first thought, so obviously, she didn't get the call. So we're a little bit worried about taking two people out of our kickoff receive set up. So we have to have a little bit of a talk about that, because she wasn't needed in those situations."

The number one ranked side in the world, five time consecutive Women's Six Nations winners and inaugural WXV1 champions, success has become expected with the Red Roses in recent years. However, when a side reaches the mountain top of the rugby world, they need to find new 'metrics' to measure their accomplishments, ahead of pushing towards next year's home Women's Rugby World Cup.

JOHN MITCHELL: "Now we have winning metrics. We have them live as well. So we know where we were tracking in performance. But I mean, we have, we try and be very, very clear on our strategy. And then we try and be very, very clear in the way that we designed training around that. So really, it's about improving.

"I thought you know, I definitely asked the girls to be really, really sharp and in their game and build pressure. They did that in both halves, I think we left a couple out there as well. But I still think there's massive growth lifting us as we look really really good when we attack together as one team but when we choose to go individual that compromises us. So I think we still got a little bit of learning there, but certainly, our game is working. And I think it is the right way."

"So when do you use a measurement? It's got to be meaningful to the girls. It's just can't be meaningful to to the staff, or to the public, it's going to be meaningful to the girls. So, I think we get quite a good balance and that area, once we get really clear then we just talk normal rugby talk as most rugby teams do, and have a little bit of fun around it as well."