John Mitchell: Changing Red Roses captain wasn’t nice for Marlie Packer or me ahead of Women’s Six Nations

England Red Roses head coach John Mitchell has told Sky Sports changing the captaincy from Marlie Packer to Zoe Aldcroft “wasn’t nice” for the former, nor for Mitchell himself.

Mitchell announced last week 28-year-old lock Aldcroft would replace Packer – skipper for England’s last two Six Nations Grand Slam successes – for the 2025 Women’s Six Nations, which begins on March 22.

Packer, named vice-captain alongside Meg Jones, was also named 2023 World Rugby women’s player of the year, but Mitchell previously cited the competition for Packer’s spot in the back-row as part of the decision to hand Aldcroft the captaincy.

Speaking to Sky Sports on Wednesday, the 60-year-old admits it was a difficult moment.

“It wasn’t nice for Marlie. It wasn’t nice for me to do it, but I had to do it in the best interests of the Red Roses. And she took it like a champion, which is huge,” Mitchell said.

“I went to see Marlie, which I think is important when you’re making a hard decision. As much as Marlie definitely will be hurting, she has already contributed in the camp. It’s a real testament to her, the way in which she has taken it on the chin.

“I wanted to be really clear on the leadership so that the culture can move forward with the right behaviours going into the year – and how we can all contribute to that.

“You’ve got to respect Marlie, she’s a wonderful woman and has been a great England rugby player and captain… you have to be empathetic to the change. It’s not personal.

“I just thought we’ve got so much competition in the No 7 position – we’ve got competition everywhere really – so, to me, it was then about ‘who is on the team sheet every week?’ And it had to be the most consistent player within the group.

“That’s why I thought of Zoe. She’s highly respected among her peers, she leads by example in training and leads in her performances. She’s also a lovely woman and she cares.

“She’ll be complimented still by Marlie, who brings a different set of skills and strengths, and also by Megan, who holds people accountable and another who is very consistent.

“They fit into a leadership group who lead the culture. It’s really settling for the group.”

The camp this month arrives on the back of the Red Roses winning a third successive Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam.

Indeed, England clinched their sixth successive Six Nations title and third straight Grand Slam in 2024, sealing it in Round 5 with a 42-21 thrashing of France in Bordeaux in a marvellous display against the other half of the Women’s Six Nations’ historic ‘big two.’

There is also the matter of a home Rugby World Cup in England on the horizon to think about, which begins on August 22.

“It is a big year. We need to be excited by the opportunities,” Mitchell added.

“All the choices we make during the year need to be critical towards our goals, but we can’t make it any bigger than what it actually is. We’ve got to stay clear and work as hard as we can.

“The Six Nations will be a base camp where we’ll look to evolve our game. There’s a lot of improvement left in us.

“We’re excited about where we’re going to go next with our game. We’ll test it out in the Six Nations and then hopefully we’ll be in a good place to evolve even more going into the World Cup.”

Aldcroft: My heart was a 100 miles an hour when told | ‘Packer been amazing’

Aldcroft has previously captained her country on a number occasions, having first taken the role for an 89-0 victory over the United States in November 2021, while she oversaw comprehensive wins over Wales and Scotland during the 2024 Six Nations.

Her response to receiving the call from Mitchell was one of pure excitement.

“I’m super, super grateful to be selected as England captain. It’s a massive honour and privilege to lead these incredible girls,” Aldcroft told Sky Sports.

“It’s such an honour that we’ve got so many great humans and leaders in this team already. To be able to drive this whole Red Roses environment forward is just incredible.

“He [Mitchell] rang me up over Christmas and explained the reasonings, about how to lead by example and not to change who I am – keep authentic in myself – which was obviously really nice to hear.

“He just kind of said it so blasé. My heart was going about 100 miles per hour. I was at home in my kitchen…got off the phone and rang my husband really quickly. It was amazing and super exciting.

“Obviously it’s the first time we’ve met as the Red Roses this year, so it’s just been really good to catch up with everybody, see what everyone has been up to, and get a clear mindset of how we want to attack the year – setting some values for ourselves, so that we can be the phenomenal team this year that we want to be.”

When asked how Packer has been since the big announcement, Aldcroft was full of praise.

“We’ve seen what Marlie brings as a captain, she’s an unbelievable energy driver, fixes any issues that need fixing – she’s been an incredible captain over these last couple of years. Her support has been absolutely incredible, she’s honestly been amazing,” Aldcroft added.

“She [Packer] has [given tips]. She said sometimes I might just need to go to my room and have a little chill.

“She has honestly been super, super important. If I need absolutely anything then I know she is going to be right there and by my side the whole time. It has been amazing to have her support.

“We have a wider leaders group as well. We met up last week in London, spoke about how our dynamics were going to work and how we drive the team, the culture and everything on the pitch as well.

“It’s really important we delve into how we communicate to each to each other, how each other likes to be spoken to and what people’s main roles are.

“Our main values are ‘courage’, ‘bond’, ‘lead’. We looked into what the Red Roses look, act and feel like. We delved into that as a whole group. It was really good to get everyone’s ideas, and now we can live by it and be the kind of people we want to have in this environment.”