Packer makes history as Scarratt returns
England captain to win 100th cap in Six Nations opener Veteran centre to start in Italy as Mitchell opts for big guns
Marlie Packer will make her landmark 100th Test appearance when she captains England in their Women’s Six Nations opener against Italy on Sunday.
The Saracens back row, who made her international debut in 2008, will become the seventh female England rugby centurion as the Red Roses begin their quest for a sixth consecutive Six Nations crown.
John Mitchell, the England head coach, has selected an experienced side for the trip to Parma, with Emily Scarratt and fly-half Zoe Harrison returning to international duty for the first time since the 2022 World Cup final after overcoming long-term injuries.
Scarratt will form a revamped midfield partnership with Helena Rowland, being deployed at inside centre for the first time at Test level for more than five years.
There is also a return for Bristol Bears second row Abbie Ward, who will create her own slice of history as only the second known player to return to England level since becoming a mother. Not since Emma Croker in 2012 has an England player given birth and returned to Test level.
Sadia Kabeya, who was one of England’s outstanding players at last year’s championship but missed the WXV competition last autumn with injury, returns at blindside flanker, while Lucy Packer starts at scrum-half.
Maddie Fe’aunati, the Exeter Chiefs blindside who was a shock inclusion in Mitchell’s squad last week, is in line to make her Red Roses debut off the bench, just weeks after turning down a Black
Ferns contract. With Sarah Bern out for the entire championship, Kelsey Clifford is to earn her first Test start at tighthead prop.
“We are excited to get going in what is an awesome tournament,” Mitchell said. “We are focused on improving our performance. We want to get quicker at our game, we want to create more pressure on the opposition, and we want to present attacking opportunities. Italy is our first opportunity to put into practice what we are aiming to achieve.”
Italy, who are still in transition to professionalism, should be a fairly straightforward challenge, but Mitchell is not resting on his laurels. He has brought back the big guns for the Six Nations opener.
After Packer’s 100-cap milestone, Scarratt’s highly anticipated return is the headline news. She will look to draw on the experience of her own 108 Test appearances in a new-look midfield, an area which, unlike their male counterparts, has been consistently lucrative for more than a decade. The 34-yearold, who has spent most of her career at outside centre, has played just three hours of competitive rugby for her club Loughborough Lightning since returning from a career-threatening neck injury.
Having effortlessly worked her way back into Red Roses contention, she is clearly still part of Mitchell’s plans for next year’s home World Cup, albeit in a different guise at inside centre, where she has been favoured over Tatyana Heard. There is a semblance of familiarity, with Rowland making up the second half of England’s midfield axis at outside centre.