The eagle-eyed watchers of the Red Roses, of which John Mitchell may now count himself one, may notice something different about the England head coach as his side return to action for the first time since Rugby World Cup glory. The six-and-a-bit months since that fabulous September day have been useful time for repair and recuperation – cataract surgery, one of a number undergone by the affable New Zealander recently, means there is no longer a need for the famous clear-framed spectacles from behind which he oversaw England’s Twickenham triumph.
New World Cup cycle, new perspective? Certainly, it is not just the head coach of the world champions that looks different. Of the victorious 32 players, wing Abby Dow and centre Emily Scarratt have retired, with the latter moving into Mitchell’s coaching staff; injury has accounted for Tatyana Heard’s campaign, and possibly Hannah Botterman’s too; and pregnancies rule out captain Zoe Stratford, Rosie Galligan, Abbie Ward and Lark Atkin-Davies. Opportunities, it would seem, abound within a team seeking an eighth straight Women’s Six Nations success.
