The Red Roses are back in action tomorrow afternoon, with a highly anticipated test match coming up against France. The two heavyweights of the Women’s Six Nations are set to collide at Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium, in what is the first of two WXV warm-up matches for John Mitchell’s England team. The match will also be live broadcasted on BBC One (14:30 KO).
England follow up the fixture with France with a return to Twickenham, as they take on the reigning World Champions, the Black Ferns of New Zealand at the re-christened Allianz Stadium. Despite the New Zealand challenge coming in over the horizon, England head coach Mitchell and his captain Marlie Packer have their sights set firmly on the battle with Les Bleus.
The last time the two sides met was in the final round of the 2024 Guinness Women’s Six Nations, with England claiming their third consecutive Grand Slam out in Bordeaux. England recorded an emphatic 42-21 win at the Stade Chaban-Delmas, and are ambitious to repeat the feat at the home of the Cherry and Whites. Packer and Mitchell spoke to the media yesterday following the team announcement, with the following being the five biggest talking points from the press conference.
1. Mitchell provides an England injury update – three Red Roses undergo surgery
England have been hit by a few high profile injuries, with the likes of centre Meg Jones back row Sadia Kebeya and locks Cath O’Donnell, Rosie Galligan and Abbie Ward all out of action. Jones was last seen on the pitch during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, as she represented Great Britain Sevens. However, shortly after returning to the England camp, the Leicester Tigers midfielder suffered a severe ankle injury, which keeps her away from the Red Roses until at least 2025.
Kabeya picked up a hamstring injury in the early goings of the Red Roses pre-season training, and despite her best efforts to recover in the camp, added to her personal injury list by damaging her ankle. Cath O’Donnell also remains on the side-lines with an ankle injury of her own, with the Loughborough Lightning star hoping to recover from the ligament damage in time for a return at the 2025 Women’s Six Nations or subsequent Women’s Rugby World Cup.
JOHN MITCHELL: “She’s (Abby Ward) tracking really well. She’ll probably be available for us next week. Then Sadia (Kabeya) has had surgery, Meg (Jones) has had sergery and Catherine’s had surgery. Those three (Kabeya, Jones and O’Donnell) will be out (of WXV).”
“It’s always, unfortunate. It’s unfortunate. They’re all good people and world class players, but somebody else has this opportunity, so the great thing for us is that we’ll see in (2025) Six Nations, and by the time we get to that point, then we would have developed three other players as well.”
2. “Maddie the Baddy” – Maddie Feaunati gets her first start for England
With Kabeya out on the injury ward, the door is open for Maddie Feaunati to get her first start in an England shirt this Saturday. The hard-hitting back row has been making waves in the Red Roses squad, after arriving in England from New Zealand in 2023, and enjoying a break-through season with Exeter Chiefs.
Feaunati takes the starting spot on the blindside flank, as the rounds off a back-row with her captain Marlie Packer on the openside, and Gloucester-Hartpury powerhouse Alex Matthews at number eight. Feaunati has made five previous appearances off the bench for England, since her debut in the 2024 Guinness Women’s Six Nations, and Packer is excited to see what force the former Hurricane will bring from the start.
MARLIE PACKER: “She’s come on leaps and bounds over the time with us. She’s a power player, but is actually someone that I really get on with. ‘Maddie the Baddy’ we call her, and she’s growing all the time, and we’re really excited for her first start this weekend in the Red Roses shirt, and I think she’s really excited.”
“I don’t know how it came about (the nickname). I think we had a dance evening and we all had to make up nicknames for the different players. So, yeah, I love it, ‘Maddie the Baddie’, I call her it all the time.”
“I played against her, for Saracens against Exeter, a great clash. I played against her, but for me, it was just about making sure my role at Saracens was me playing well in that game. But then as soon as she came into camp, she had a big impression straight away.
“That’s what you want. You want someone to come in and have an impression, and obviously being a back row player as well, it keeps you on your toes, and you need to know that you’ve got up your game. Because, like Mitch (John Mitchell) says, when you’ve got 21, 22 year olds coming in, you’ve got to make sure you’re sharp at the top.”
JOHN MITCHELL: “Maddie has been with us for six, seven months now. So she understands what we do. So we’re probably unlikely to bring somebody in that hasn’t been with us and understands what we do. So, she very much has an athletic background. You know, 20, 21 years of age probably might be going on 22, so still a very young athlete.”
“Well, all the coaches watch (prospect England players) in particular, Sarah (Hunter) watches the back row. If I want to watch somebody as a result of that feedback, or directly, I’ll go and do that. No one knows that, I just do that myself. So I watched her probably about three or four times and I liked what she offered, and it started from there really. She’s been born in England, brought up in this rugby culture, her father played here. So she comes from a rugby family.”