Perhaps it is a mark of England’s superiority over their rivals that they can be such strong favourites for a home World Cup without yet knowing whose hand will at the fly-half tiller. A big decision looms for John Mitchell, the Red Roses head coach facing a problem of playmaking plenty. A drizzly afternoon in Leicester proved dreich for an overmatched Scotland but nonetheless offered England 10 Holly Aitchison a chance to strut her stuff most impressively.
Mitchell’s third fly-half of the campaign may yet prove herself again his best option. Aitchison had seemingly seized the shirt with a superlative 2024, illustrating England’s attacking game with the broad brush strokes of an artist coming into her own, able to paint in the abstract and with pointillist precision. But a shaky showing under pressure from Canada at WXV, and a slight tweak in gameplan, brought both the versatile Helena Rowland and, particularly, Zoe Harrison back into the frame.
