Ladies’s Six Nations: Marlie Packer prepared so as to add to Crimson Roses’ World Cup historical past with quick Six Nations Grand Slam

Marlie Packer remembers when “a hundred fans and a couple of dogs” got here to observe England play rugby.

Now, the longest-serving member of the Crimson Roses has skilled enjoying in entrance of 81,000 individuals.

Final autumn, Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium offered out for the World Cup ultimate, and Packer walked off the staff bus into one thing she had by no means encountered in all her years of pulling on an England shirt.

“The hairs on the back of your neck just stood up,” she mentioned. “Because it was the most sensational thing I’ve ever seen in rugby.”

The match had travelled the nation – Sunderland, Northampton, Brighton – choosing up supporters at each cease earlier than delivering them, in file numbers, to the house of English rugby.

“We didn’t just play in one spot and have fans travel to us,” Packer mirrored. “We managed to go all over the country, and fans came to the games, and then actually, that’s when they were like, ‘This is amazing, we want to get a ticket for that final.'”

One other file crowd awaits as England open their Ladies’s Six Nations marketing campaign as reigning world champions, and the Crimson Roses head into it chasing but extra historical past.

No staff has adopted a World Cup title with a Six Nations Grand Slam. This group intends to be the primary.

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Document crowds do not materialise from nowhere. Behind the sell-outs and the rising viewership figures is a bunch that was intentionally and punctiliously rebuilt – not tactically, however culturally – by head coach John Mitchell when he arrived 4 years in the past.

England have been already successful at that time, two World Cup cycles deep with two finals reached and two defeats on the final hurdle. Mitchell recognized the hole shortly, and it wasn’t within the enjoying squad.

“It wasn’t just the on-pitch stuff,” Packer defined. “It was the off-pitch stuff that he needed to change, and he came in and smashed our culture straight away. He wanted to elevate us, he wanted us to be ourselves – when we’re on, we’re on, but when we’re off, we’re off, and enjoy each other’s company.”

Megan Jones, who captains the aspect into this Six Nations following the announcement that World Cup-winning skipper Zoe Stratford is anticipating her first baby, believes the group actively resists the consolation of their very own success.

“You hear the phrase – if it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” she defined. “We’re probably looking from a different angle. We want to break it to see if we can withstand it, and kind of mould it into our own, so we’re not afraid to break things to try and keep raising the game and raising the bar.”

It’s an uncommon factor for a world champion to say, and all of the extra convincing for it.

Christiana Balogun, Millie David, Haineala Lutui, Annabel Meta, Sarah Parry, Demelza Brief and Jodie Verghese make up the gamers uncapped at senior worldwide stage.

Flanker Sadia Kabeya believes Mitchell has fostered an excellent setting for the kids to come back into.

“It gives you a space where you can be comfortable, but also push yourself outside those comfort zones,” she mentioned. “It just allows you to be yourself, and you know you don’t have to be someone else.”

There’s a feeling that one thing shifted after the World Cup – and never simply attendance figures.

Packer observed it first at membership appearances, when boys began displaying up wanting autographs, in addition to ladies, asking how they might play like her, telling her they beloved watching the Crimson Roses.

“I want to be there for any girl, boy, at any age,” she mentioned. “Whether you’re a man or a woman, if you want to go down to your local club, go pick up a ball and have fun, because actually what rugby has given me isn’t just about what’s on the pitch, it’s about the friendships I’ve made.”

Kabeya is equally clear about what this second means past the game itself.

“It’s not just about inspiring women, inspiring young girls,” she mentioned. “Inspiring young boys and men, and allowing them to come into our world – because for the longest time it’s just been women understanding women’s rugby, and now we’re growing that picture and growing that fanbase.”

‘We won’t simply depend on the actual fact we’re world champions’

Regardless of the consummate professionalism, which little question has helped drive the success for the Crimson Roses, the staff remains to be brimming with character.

Jones appears at it from a captain’s viewpoint and – when it comes to what she hopes individuals see after they take a look at this squad.

“I always thought being professional, you had to be this straight-laced person and take yourself very seriously – when actually it’s quite the complete opposite,” mentioned the skipper. “That’s what a lot of us want to showcase – that we’re all different individuals, and actually we’ve just all come together and encompass the same goal, which is to win.”

The Six Nations opener on Saturday brings one other file crowd and one other probability to set information.

“I’m super excited to get back on the pitch, get back to being with the girls, and obviously another record-breaking crowd,” mentioned Kabeya. “Especially building off the momentum we’ve had in terms of the growth of women’s rugby, hopefully we can just see bigger, better crowds, great atmospheres.”

Packer, a veteran of 112 caps, has extra context than most, and is obvious about what is required heading into the Six Nations.

“We can’t just rely on the fact that we’re world champions and we got everything right in the World Cup,” she mentioned. “Because, actually, that’s when that would be your Achilles heel.

“We want to ensure we maintain evolving and placing our greatest foot ahead.”

England’s 2026 Ladies’s Six Nations fixtures

• vs Eire (Saturday April 11) – Allianz Stadium, Twickenham (2.45pm)
• vs Scotland (Saturday April 18) – Murrayfield, Edinburgh (1.30pm)
• vs Wales (Saturday April 25) – Ashton Gate, Bristol (2.15pm)
• vs Italy (Saturday Might 9) – Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma (3pm)
• vs France (Sunday Might 17) – Stade Atlantique, Bordeaux (5.45pm)