Women's Six Nations 2025: England begin competition against Italy as World Cup on horizon

For John Mitchell's England Women's rugby team, victory is the only measure of value. They are currently heading into the Women's Six Nations Championship with an unstoppable 20-game winning streak, aiming for their seventh consecutive title. This consistent performance underscores their dominance in the sport.

Since Mitchell took over in the autumn of 2023, England has not tasted defeat. However, this impressive statistic will be meaningless if the team fails to perform well in the crucial year of 2025. With the home Rugby World Cup kicking off in August, the countdown to ultimate glory in 2025 has begun. The pressure is on to convert their winning streak into tangible success on the world stage.

Expectations are always high for England to win the Six Nations Championship with a Grand Slam. As this is the last major tournament before the World Cup, it also marks the final opportunity for the team to completely shake off the shadow of their last defeat (the 2022 World Cup final loss to New Zealand). Whether Mitchell or his players admit it or not, everything this year is geared towards winning historic glory in September. This tournament serves as a crucial stepping stone towards their ultimate goal.

To ensure perfect preparation, England began their Six Nations campaign in Yorkshire against Italy. Mitchell stated, "Because it's a home World Cup, we can't ignore it. We're excited about it, but the Six Nations is very important to us, and we have a clear goal of continuing to improve throughout the competition." He added, "We'll put the World Cup discussion aside for now and focus on training hard and raising our level in this tournament, so that when we really start preparing for the World Cup, we can consolidate our strengths even better." This approach highlights their commitment to incremental improvement.

Following their victory over Canada in October to win the WXV1 title, Mitchell made seven changes to the starting lineup and altered some positions to face Italy. Mitchell refused to describe his selections as "rotation," instead viewing his approach as "using one squad as two." Zoey Aldcroft will captain the side, her first time in the role since Mitchell replaced Marlie Packer as captain. Packer, in turn, will serve as vice-captain and play on the wing. This strategic reshuffling aims to maximize the team's potential.

Gloucester-Hartpury's Mia Venner has earned a starting wing position after excelling in the Women's Premiership, marking her first international appearance in five years. Meanwhile, versatile back Emma Sing hopes to prove that high-percentage goal-kickers are essential for the World Cup squad. Exeter Chiefs' Claudia MacDonald is eager to showcase the skills that saw her play a key role in the 2022 World Cup final after recovering from her second serious neck injury. Another player making her first Red Roses start is lock Lizzie Ives Campion, while GB Sevens player Jade Shekells and Exeter's scrum-half Flo Robinson could make their debuts off the bench. Helena Rowland has been entrusted with the fly-half role, despite primarily playing in the centers for England. These selections reflect a blend of experience and emerging talent.

Mitchell added, "We have to use the competitive advantage. 2025 has to be aimed at the end point (of the World Cup final) from the very start. It’s important to recognise that we need two teams this year to get through 13 Test matches." This statement underscores the demanding schedule and the need for squad depth.

Although Italy suffered a heavy 0-48 defeat to England in their opening Six Nations match last year, they forced their opponents into numerous errors in the first half and trailed by only 10 points at halftime. After winning just one game in that tournament, Italy boldly decided to replace Giovanni Raineri with Fabio Roselli as head coach after winning two of their three games in the WXV2 competition. The unknown quantity of Roselli's team could present new problems for England and provide some valuable opportunities for in-game problem-solving. Mitchell added, "From researching him and his coaching team, they like attacking rugby, so I think we'll see an Italy side that wants to show themselves early. They'll be influenced by his leadership, and I'm sure they'll want to impress him." This suggests a potentially more aggressive and unpredictable Italian team.