Leading the Red Roses to a third Six Nations Grand Slam in a row, and a sixth consecutive title, ranks among my proudest moments.
The entire tournament was epic to be honest, from putting Ireland to the sword with attacking rugby at a rocking Twickenham to battling past France in Bordeaux for the title.
Sometimes the little moments stick with you, like having to take our boots off for the trophy lift because of a slippery podium.
I lifted the trophy with Zoe Aldcroft, because she captained us against Scotland when I was on the bench. We have a lot of high-quality and experienced leaders in the England camp, and we all rely on each other as sounding boards.
But the quality and calibre of our preparation, application and execution through this tournament is right up there, and testament to everyone involved – all the players, the coaching and support staff.
We were meant to have one-to-one meetings with head coach John “Mitch” Mitchell the morning after our 42-21 win over France in Bordeaux.
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— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) April 27, 2024
The moment the Red Roses had been waiting for!#FRAvENG #SixNations #BBCRugby pic.twitter.com/4wB3vZ3hO8
We were also on a 7am flight home, however. So on the team bus back to the hotel from the stadium, we were all chanting “No one-on-ones” to Mitch.
We chanted the same thing to him after we won WXV in New Zealand. That time he stuck to his guns, but this time he relented and postponed those meetings.
Mitch’s wife hopped on the bus with us to grab a lift, and our rule is that first-timers on the bus have to sing a song. She got stuck in, to a great reception, and it was a lovely moment that sums up the openness that we have in our camp.
It was a brilliant night’s celebration, and although the early flight was a tester, we stayed at a hotel where we could walk to the airport, and that helped massively!
We will have those postponed one-on-one meetings next week, and they are crucial to help us plot our forward course.
I have a great relationship with Mitch and he’s very happy with how the captaincy is going. We’ve said we will take that year by year. Whatever happens, it is an honour for me to be captain of my country and lead the Red Roses.
As long as I keep playing my best rugby, performing on and off the pitch and doing whatever it is that the Red Roses need, then hopefully I stay as captain.
But if he were to tell me that another player will take that role for a game, or for the new season, I would not have an issue with that.
The route to being the best captain you can be is just to be yourself, and not to overthink certain elements of it in order to find that authenticity.
Inevitably eventually that day will come where it comes to an end, and when that happens I will not be kicking my toys out of the pram or anything. But also I very much hope that that is not for some time to come as well!
I want to be a massive part of this squad right up to 2025. My goal is to lift the World Cup in my home country, in a sold-out Twickenham with my son in the crowd.
A lot can happen between then and now but that is my overall goal. It would be incredible to do it, but there’s a long stint from now until then.
I’m not trying to think about that – I’ve just got to get through the next pre-season to be fair!
My goal is to lift the World Cup in my home country, in a sold-out Twickenham with my son in the crowd
It is also important for me to thank my family. They have followed me and attended every Six Nations match this year. That really is a tough gig and a big ask, around their work and their own commitments.
This is only the second time they have managed to do that in my career, and it means everything to me. It was because of my 100th cap, with that being in Italy, and then the decider being in France.
We really do understand the size of commitment required for anyone to come to our matches, and we honestly are so grateful for the support.
We are going to need that all again when we host France in Gloucester and New Zealand at Twickenham in September.
As I said, there are so many challenges to come between now and next year’s World Cup, but we as Red Roses cannot wait – and we would love to have you along with us for the adventure.
