England centre Emily Scarratt returned to the Red Roses starting XV this passed weekend, as the legendary midfielder took up the 13 shirt for her 100th Test match start. Scarratt has battled back from a series of significant neck and knee injuries to return to the squad, after being sidelined throughout the majority of the 2023 season.
The Loughborough Lightning icon did not have a straight-forward return to the England squad, that had entered a new era in her near year-long absence. In Scarratt’s time away from the Red Roses, the team appointed a new head coach in John Mitchell, after Simon Middleton left the role after the 2023 Women’s Six Nations triumph. Scarratt’s vacancy opened up the door for Leicester Tigers centre Meg Jones to claim the outside centre spot as her own, with Scarratt taking a seat amongst the replacements upon her initial return to the England squad.
Yet to come full circle, Jones then picked up a significant ankle injury. The midfielder was ruled out until 2025 shortly after returning to the England camp, following her run with the Great Britain Olympic Sevens squad at the Paris Games this past Summer. This opened the door once again for Scarratt, who took charge at outside centre for the Red Roses recent win against the Black Ferns, at the Allianz Stadium.
“I’m still here because I want to play, and i feel like I can add something.” Scarratt told the media, after England’s win against New Zealand last Saturday. “Obviously, it was challenging, you just want to come back and try and hit the ground running and just give everything, and then see where you’re at and see where you potentially then fit.
“We chatted earlier in the week, (about how) it wasn’t as easy as that, with some tendon issues, which are arguably more frustrating than some of the big injuries. But, you just want to be out there and give it your all. I wouldn’t still be playing if I didn’t feel like I had something to add to the team. And it’s up to me to try and prove that.”
Whilst Scarratt has starred in the 13 shirt for the predominance of her playing career, there was a possible switch to 12 in the works throughout recent Red Roses camps. England head coach John Mitchell trialled the idea of moving ‘Scaz’ to inside centre, after the normally pace-fuelled playmaker was a step or two away from her top speed.
The first to admit any possible rustiness following 12 months in the recovery wards, Scarratt owned the change and went about moving back to the 13 shirt. After weeks of tireless training, the 34-year-old is reported to have recorded an all time personal best sprint speed, which gave her the green light to return back to outside centre, and carve the running lines around the Black Ferns.
“It’s no surprise that I’ve played the majority of my career there (outside centre). It’s a comfortable number to have on my back. I enjoy the role of 12, certainly with how we play the game, you potentially get your hands on ball a little bit more. But when you’ve done something for so long, it will be a more comfortable thing to fit back into, than potentially just that shift inside. But I’ll take whatever, to be honest, but it was cool to be back in the shirt.”
Scarratt was assembled as part of a new-found centre partnership, as the 112-capped England international lined up alongside Tatyana Heard. The Gloucester-Hartpury star retained her 12 shirt, following a Player of the Match performance against France at her home ground of Kingsholm a week prior. Heard adapted well to her new midfield duo, having gotten familiarised to the distinctive voice of Meg Jones throughout their previous run together.
Heard partnered up with Helena Rowland for the France Test in early September, and adapted well to the introduction of Rowland’s Loughborough teammate Scarratt this past weekend. ‘Scaz’ expressed how impressed she has been by Heard’s adaptability, and discussed how how her steamrolling strengths compliment Scarratt’s surging outside line breaks.
“We’ve not played a huge amount together. I wouldn’t know what year it was, maybe 2017, we had a bit of a run together. And then, obviously, for different reasons, her off being injured, me then being injured, we wouldn’t probably play together that much. But I love playing with her. She brings such a directness and a power to that midfield.
“I think we went pretty well to be fair, together. It’s just trying to continue to learn off each other. It’s how do we then release the outside backs, because we’ve got some serious pacy players out there!”
The past weekend’s win against the Black Ferns was a significant milestone for the Red Roses, as they have now achieved back-to-back victories against the reigning world champions. England have the opportunity to make it three on the bounce against New Zealand when the two sides meet in the second round of WXV, to keep the momentum rolling onwards towards the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Whilst the wins against New Zealand and France are excellent morale boosters for England, Scarratt ensured that the Red Roses have not yet hit their peak ahead of next year’s showpiece tournament.
“I think we’re certainly not holding anything back, because you also can’t do that. But I think naturally, we’re trying to push so that we get to a stage where then we push again. We’re trying to play a certain game at the moment, and say, the game plan today, which in parts we got right, and in parts we won’t have done. We’re trying to just continue to keep pushing that, we then push ourselves, and hopefully (take) the bar higher and higher, headed into what is a big year.
“We don’t want to stand still. We haven’t won the World Cup in a little while. We know that, so we can’t stand still and just take these wins and think we’re doing the right thing. We’ve got to really keep pushing.”
As Scarratt alluded to, the Red Roses have not won the Women’s Rugby World Cup for a decade, with the memories of 2014 still fresh in the mind of the former world champion. Scarratt was just 24-years-old when she tasted the glory of the Test match mountain top, as the then Litchfield Ladies star was apart of the immortalised group that reached the summit. Scarratt can see some similarities between the camaraderie of the class of 2014 and her current Red Roses teammates, after what was a gruelling preseason this past Summer.
“We’ve just been through a really tough preseason where we’re all together. They’re challenging because you’re together a lot, but also because they’re just bloody tough! That’s preseason. So groups kind of come through that in one of two ways, I think we’ve come through in a really positive way, it brings us closer together.
“In 2014, I was obviously on the younger end of the spectrum, now I’m much on the older end. But I think that the blend is very similar, you’ve got those experienced players, you’ve got those heads that have been through it, done it before, and then you’ve got that naivety of youth, that is just going out there and ripping into it.”
Despite having ‘been there and done it’ throughout a decorated career, Scarratt still gets a major adrenaline rush when she runs out at the home of English rugby. The centre did not downplay the buzz of running out through a sea of supporters, and was ecstatic to get the opportunity to experience the feeling of a capacity crowd in Twickenham.
“It’s honestly amazing! I missed the first time (against France, 2023 Women’s Six Nations). It was the first time we ever walked in through the big crowds, and we set records. I was out injured during that time, and I just remember thinking, this is unbelievable. Having been able to reference the walk, because I feel like that’s the most tangible bit, where you’re so close to people, they are screaming, honestly, it’s amazing! I’ll never, ever get bored of that. It’s pretty special to obviously be here.”
Scarratt could well get the opportunity to experience the same indescribable emotion, when the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup rolls around. Only the World Cup Final and third place Final will be held at the Allianz, with Scarratt eyeing up the showpiece event for the home-soil hosted tournament next August and September.