Zoe Aldcroft is named captain of England in succession to Marlie Packer.
John Mitchell has made what may well prove his most important decision yet as head coach. His choice of Zoe Aldcroft as England captain for the 2025 Six Nations has all manner of consequences.
I list the contracted players below.
First, Mitchell has gone for the favoured option of dividing leadership. Alongside Aldcroft, Marlie Packer and Meg Jones are appointed vice-captains.
We know from evidence at international and club level that those two positions do not ensure an automatic place on match-day.
Then there is the leadership group; this is where the Red Roses have an immeasurable advantage. So many players have passed the 50-cap mark.
Packer’s future in the England squad now comes into some doubt. With the double challenge of another 6N Grand Slam, then a trophy-winning World Cup (not achieved for eleven years), players moving into their late thirties are liable to be found surplus to needs, no matter their past achievements.
The battle for back-row places is as fierce as anywhere on the park. Take your pick from Allen, Beckett, Else, Feaunati, Kabeya, Matthews, Packer and Talling. Then others like Georgia Brock have been kicking up some dust.
With Meg Jones as vice-captain, only one other centre-position is likely to be available. Mitchell has at his disposal Helena Rowland, Phoebe Murray, Tatyana Heard and Emily Scarratt, quite apart from any newer face who may have caught the management’s attention during the current PWR season.
Even Scarratt is no longer a first-choice, an improbable thought till very recently. But the pressure on squad-places grows ever fiercer.
I lead, you follow
Of the 32 players listed below five have already worn the armband: Aldcroft, Hunt, Matthews, Packer and Scarratt.
Aldcroft has been co-captain of the double trophy winners, Gloucester-Hartpury, alongside Mo Hunt. It may well be another indication of Mitchell’s attitude to age that the younger woman takes preference.
Jones’ leadership qualities were shown on the Sevens field, where she shared captaincy with Abbie Brown for England, then GB. The sharpness of her thinking about the game matches her playing style.
As we peruse the list below, we must bear in mind the possibility of other players finding a place in the odd 6N game or two, and not only the eight on the transition list. There have been so many promising performances from people not yet included among these 40 that Mitchell and his staff may well be tempted to widen the net.
Did they assume their final RWC squad would be found from within those first 32 names? Quite possibly not: all sorts of events may take place between now and August to cause a rethink.
Here’s a reminder of the players contracted for 2024-25
Holly Aitchison, Zoe Aldcroft, Lark Atkin-Davies, Sarah Beckett, Sarah Bern, Hannah Botterman , Jess Breach, Mackenzie Carson, Kelsey Clifford, Amy Cokayne, Liz Crake, Abby Dow, Maddie Feaunati, Rosie Galligan, Zoe Harrison, Tatyana Heard, Natasha Hunt, Megan Jones, Sadia Kabeya, Ellie Kildunne, Alex Matthews, Claudia MacDonald, Maud Muir, Cath O’Donnell, Lucy Packer, Marlie Packer, Connie Powell, Helena Rowland, Emily Scarratt, Morwenna Talling, Abbie Ward, Ella Wyrwas (32)
Transition Contracted Players
Maisy Allen, Katie Buchanan, Grace Clifford, Steph Else, Lizzie Hanlon, Lilli Ives Campion, Nancy McGillivray, Mia Venner (8)
