Bouncing from toe to heel in the bowels of Allianz Stadium, John Mitchell was in a surprisingly buoyant mood. Of course, another Women’s Six Nations grand slam had (just about) been secured, the Red Roses long unbeaten run extended again, but one might have expected a more reflective, ruminative head coach after seeing England so nearly contrive to throw victory against France away. After 31-7 had become 43-42, there was a telling lift in the volume from the Twickenham crowd as the home side walked slowly towards halfway for what proved the final restart - England supporters not used to seeing their side in a proper bout rose with relish to the occasion.
Mitchell can prickle and bristle with the best of them post-match but his positivity reflected the fact that this was precisely the sort of outing England needed. “I feel really good,” the New Zealander beamed, still yet to taste defeat in his tenure. “There’s been other games in the tournament where I’ve probably come off feeling like I need to fix things. Even when they scored in the last minutes, I still think we had enough in the tank.
“Hopefully the girls today, and the girls who have now had an experience of Allianz, understand what pressure is like in Test rugby. Your basics have to be good under pressure. I think today as Red Roses we let our standard down in the area of basics which is uncharacteristic for us to have given up so much ball and gifted tries.”
This is precisely the sort of encounter for which England have privately yearned. Mitchell is not the first Red Roses coach to express a desire for greater competition – there are those who feel a defeat on Saturday might actually have served them well in the context of a World Cup to come, as it did England in 2014. An alternate view is that this was a perfect result, a near miss to focus the mind but not a loss that could have instilled real doubt.
The experience of having to hold in the face of a furious French fightback will count come the crunch later this year. This was their final competitive hit-out before the World Cup and only the second time since Mitchell’s arrival that they have really been threatened, Canada also running them close at WXV in the autumn. England will tangle again with their France in Mont-de-Marsan pre-World Cup and also face Spain in another warm-up fixture – but in terms of the proper stuff ahead of a tournament where they will face an expectation no English side has perhaps ever had to handle, that’s that.
Mitchell and his squad will now have five weeks off, a long campaign compounded by the squeezing in of the Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) season beforehand. The squad at least have a heat camp in Treviso to look forward to. The injury gods have so far looked kindly upon them: Claudia MacDonald’s knee injury is thought just to be bruising; Ellie Kildunne’s hamstring issue not at all serious; Mackenzie Carson tracking well in her recovery.
Narrowing down a 32-player squad – set to be comprised of 18 forwards and 14 backs and named in late July – will not be straightforward, though the time has probably now passed for a bolter. “I’m definitely going to take 18-14 so some positional versatility is going to be important among the backs,” Mitchell said. That may be good news for Helena Rowland, who now appears definitely third in the fly half pecking order but covers every position from 10-15. Likewise, Emma Sing’s stock perhaps fell even in a two-try performance – the Gloucester-Hartpury full-back does not cover any other position and perhaps needed a statement showing in Kildunne’s absence.
“It was an unusual defensive performance,” Mitchell explained, not exactly giving full backing to his No 15. “Through the middle, we weren’t winning the first collision and then we weren’t getting the second in. But then the edge stuff in the second half…I certainly didn’t see that coming. [We had] a little bit of change in the backfield. You change one [and] it’s a difficult connection, the back three, and a really important one.”
Big decisions loom elsewhere. While a difficult day for some in England white who shrunk with the pressure on, the France near miss was probably good news for the omitted Emily Scarratt and Marlie Packer. Neither 2014 World Cup winner is necessarily certain to make this year’s squad, but Mitchell’s side missed their experience and calm on Saturday afternoon. Once Hannah Botterman had departed, England lacked jackal threat with both Packer and Sadia Kabeya left out, while the former captain perhaps would have been exactly the sort of character to seize control when the Red Roses began to list.
But the fact that England can even contemplate leaving either centurion out is a reflection of the depth they have developed. While Zoe Aldcroft, Tatyana Heard and Abby Dow are among their nailed-on starters, at most other positions there are tough decisions to be made.
“I always say it but Emily Scarratt's not even on the team,” centre Meg Jones stressed. “That's the depth we're talking about and the sort of expertise we have. We know the depth and we back it as well. It's just a case of trusting every person in that squad. It's massive for us and definitely a strength for us.” More bumps in the road will lie ahead at the World Cup but after finally getting a test they needed, England could not really be better equipped.
Possible Red Roses World Cup squad
Loosehead (3): Hannah Botterman, Mackenzie Carson, Kelsey Clifford
Hooker (3): Lark Atkin-Davies, Amy Cokayne, May Campbell
Tighthead prop (2): Sarah Bern, Maud Muir
Lock (5): Zoe Aldcroft, Abbie Ward, Morwenna Talling, Rosie Galligan, Lilli Ives Campion.
Back row (5): Alex Matthews, Maddie Feaunati, Sadia Kabeya, Marlie Packer, Abi Burton.
Scrum half (2): Natasha Hunt, Lucy Packer
Fly half (3): Zoe Harrison, Holly Aitchison, Helena Rowland
Centre (4): Tatyana Heard, Meg Jones, Emily Scarratt, Jade Shekells
Back three (5): Abby Dow, Ellie Kildunne, Jess Breach, Claudia MacDonald, Mia Venner.
