The Red Roses have arrived in New Zealand for the first-ever WXV1 competition, and they take on Australia in their first match of the campaign this Friday. England start off their three-match tour against the Wallaroos, before taking on Canada and then the Black Ferns of New Zealand over the next three weekends.
It is an era of change for the Red Roses, after the retirement of long-standing Head Coach Simon Middleton at the end of the 2023 Women’s Six Nations. The same competition also featured the end to legendary England lock Sarah Hunter’s on-field career, for her record 141st and final test match. Hunter received her swan-song in her home city of Newcastle, as England defeated Scotland in the opening round at Kingston Park.
Hunter has since taken a role on the new-look coaching team, alongside the newly appointed Head Coach John Mitchell. The former Assistant Coach to Eddie Jones’ England Men’s team joins the Red Roses tonight in Wellington, after finishing up his duties as Japan Defence Coach for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. In his absence, former Leicester Tigers lock Louis Deacon has stood in as interim Head Coach, in what has been an exciting time of change, for the new generation at the England camp.
“I think it’s a new journey.” Deacon said at this morning’s press conference in New Zealand. “Like you said, this new coaching group, and it’s a new player group also. We’ve changed a lot around what we do, our environments very different to what it was before. The way we’re trying to play the game is very different. So, each week is a learning week, a week where we’re looking to improve and keep getting better.”
“Sarah Hunter has been absolutely amazing. You know, she’s hugely respected by the group. She was as a player, and she’s transferred that over to her coaching as well. She’s very informative with the players, very direct in terms of what she wants, very clear in her delivery. And I’ve been hugely impressed with the transition for Sarah. Sometimes it can be very difficult when you’re coaching players that you’ve played with and a lot of them are your friends. But she’s dealt with that extremely well.”
ENGLAND TEAM TO PLAY AUSTRALIA: WXV1
15. Helena Rowland 14. Abby Dow 13. Megan Jones 12. Tatyana Heard 11. Jess Breach 10. Holly Aitchison 9. Ella Wywras 1. Hannah Botterman 2. Connie Powell 3. Maud Muir 4. Rosie Galligan 5. Zoe Aldcroft 6. Maisy Allen 7. Marlie Packer (captain) 8. Alex Matthews
16. Lark Atkin-Davies 17. Mackenzie Carson 18. Kelsey Clifford 19. Sarah Beckett 20. Daisy Hibbert-Jones 21. Natasha Hunt 22. Sophie Bridger 23. Emma Sing
There are some talented young players within the Red Roses’ WXV squad, with the likes of Exeter Chiefs back-row Maisy Allen and Saracens centre Sophie Bridger get their call-ups. The duo earned their first few England caps in the back-to-back pre-season victories against Canada, with Deacon excited to see more from the young talents in New Zealand.
“Sophie and Maisy, throughout preseason they’ve both been outstanding. Like they’re both young players, but they both really deserve their opportunities that they’re getting. Really pleased for them to be in the squad. Maisie for such a young player is already a leader. And she had a great game in her first start against Canada in the preseason game, so yeah, she deserves her opportunity again this weekend.”
Marlie Packer has stepped up into the captaincy role, having taken over the armband from Hunter in the 2023 Women’s Six Nations. Packer had previous experience in a co-captaincy role, but has come into her own, and led the Red Roses to the Grand Slam last April. Packer recently led England to two wins over Canada, with the Red Roses running out a 50-24 win in Exeter’s Sandy Park, and a 29-12 win at Saracen’s Stone X Stadium.
Packer sees this inaugural WXV competition as an excellent opportunity for England to test themselves against the best Women’s sides from across the world, and believes it will only help to further grow the Women’s side of the game. Speaking about England’s current form coming into the tournament, Packer said;
“At the end of the day, the squad are in a really good place. We’ve been building, we’ve been learning and we’ve done a lot of learning within playing the two Canada games, but this is a tournament the other side of the world. And the girls are just really relishing and wanting to go out there and play and keep building from those Canada wins.”
“Yeah, it’s massive, (the WXV) I think from rolling on from a year ago, with the World Cup and the legacy that left, and inspiring future generations to pick up the ball. To then knocking on to this tournament in being able to play that the top four teams in the world in Australia this Friday for us, but then Canada and then obviously New Zealand is something that we relish and we’re really looking forward to. I think our fan base back at home are really looking forward to these games.”
Back-row talent Allen is amongst the later break-through talents in the England squad, after making a name for herself in Exeter’s run to the Premier 15s Final last season. Allen discussed the step up to the international stage, and how she feels apart of this new generation of the Red Roses.
“In terms of the group and coming into this environment, everyone’s been really nice. And it’s like we said, there’s been a big build on culture. I think because I’ve come in, at that point where it’s been a bit of a change, I feel like I’ve been part of that from the start. So it sort of feels like a bit of a less of a jump in that area.
“In terms of playing wise, it doesn’t feel like so much now. But the first few weeks of preseason, everything was just so fast and like intense. Obviously, the physicality is a massive jump, you know, the Prem does prepare you a bit for that, but I don’t think you do fully experience it. And I definitely felt like I didn’t experience that (physicality) until I came in here.
“Now that we’re sort of how many weeks in, preseason is finished and we’re into competition mode, it feels a bit more fluid. I’m getting used to it, in the style of play and things like that. So definitely, I feel like I’m fitting, if that makes sense.”
England’s versatile back-line talent Megan Jones also spoke in the pre-match media. The former England Sevens star is an exhilarating playmaker, that led the line as Wasps’ fly-half before the club’s collapse last season. Currently on the books with Leicester Tigers, Jones has become accustomed to tearing up the midfield, and will start in the centres against Australia.
Jones discussed the upcoming arrival of new Head Coach John Mitchell, and England’s aims to secure the victory in their opening match of the WXV calendar.
“At the moment, he’s (John Mitchell) kind of just this figure that we haven’t really seen or, we’ve heard little glimpses of. So it’s going to be nice to put a face to all these magical words, and the culture that he wants to put into play. So yeah, I think it’s going to be a little bit of apprehension, I’m sure amongst the group.
“We’ve already spoken about that, but (the England players are) also excited as well, because I want to hear all these amazing experiences he’s had, what he’s going to put into this group, and how he’s going to make us a phenomenal team moving forward.”
England last took on Australia in the 2021 Rugby World Cup Quarter-Finals (played in 2022). The match saw England run out a one-way demolition job on the Wallaroos, for a landslide 41-5 victory. Once again the action takes place in New Zealand, and Jones is hopeful for more of the same this Friday.
“I think that’s exactly what we’re setting out to do. We’ve got our huge aspirations of playing more variety and a more elusive game. And yeah, I think that’s always our aim. We will always focus on us, and have, obviously an understanding of how we’re going to play against different teams. But we’ve got a massive emphasis on what we’re going to try and do on the park, and we’re going to bring that on Friday.”
England take on Australia this Friday October 20th in Wellington’s Sky Stadium. Set your alarms for this one as the match has a UK kick-off time of 07:00am. The action will be shown live on ITVX, as will every England and Wales match from the competition.