England’s Hunt expecting more competition
GRAND slam champions England kick off their tournament away to Italy in Parma this afternoon, searching for their sixth successive Women’s Six Nations title.
England have won 14 titles, 12 of them Grand Slams, since the first tournament in 2002 and as the world’s number one-ranked team, they will be hard to stop.
Former New Zealand men’s head coach John Mitchell is now at the helm, while his support staff includes World Cup winner and 141 times-capped former Red
Roses number eight Sarah Hunter.
However, England scrum-half Natasha Hunt believes this year’s tournament will see big improvements from their opposition.
‘I think it could be the most competitive ever,’ said Hunt, 35. ‘It took us (England) two or three years to reap the benefits of having our professional contracts, and Scotland and Wales are now in that boat.
‘Everyone wants to watch games that go down to the wire so the more competitive the games are, the better it is for the viewer.
‘We have got a whole new gameplan, a whole new system that we are trying to implement, and we want to get that right and do what we can to put our best foot forward.’
Mitchell has made several changes from the team that beat New Zealand in the WXV1 final in November, with Emily Scarratt, Abbie Ward and Zoe Harrison among those returning.
Skipper Marlie Packer, meanwhile, will become the seventh England women’s player to clock up a century of caps.
Yesterday, Scotland travelled to Cardiff, where they beat Wales 20-18.