"U20s star set for Debut" - 5 Talking Points: Red Roses captain Packer and Coach Mitchell preview tomorrow's France Test

England follow up the fixture with France with a return to Twickenham, as they take on the reigning World Champions, the Black Ferns of New Zealand at the re-christened Allianz Stadium. Despite the New Zealand challenge coming in over the horizon, England head coach Mitchell and his captain Marlie Packer have their sights set firmly on the battle with Les Bleus.

The last time the two sides met was in the final round of the 2024 Guinness Women's Six Nations, with England claiming their third consecutive Grand Slam out in Bordeaux. England recorded an emphatic 42-21 win at the Stade Chaban-Delmas, and are ambitious to repeat the feat at the home of the Cherry and Whites. Packer and Mitchell spoke to the media yesterday following the team announcement, with the following being the five biggest talking points from the press conference.

England have been hit by a few high profile injuries, with the likes of centre Meg Jones back row Sadia Kebeya and locks Cath O'Donnell, Rosie Galligan and Abbie Ward all out of action. Jones was last seen on the pitch during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, as she represented Great Britain Sevens. However, shortly after returning to the England camp, the Leicester Tigers midfielder suffered a severe ankle injury, which keeps her away from the Red Roses until at least 2025.

Kabeya picked up a hamstring injury in the early goings of the Red Roses pre-season training, and despite her best efforts to recover in the camp, added to her personal injury list by damaging her ankle. Cath O'Donnell also remains on the side-lines with an ankle injury of her own, with the Loughborough Lightning star hoping to recover from the ligament damage in time for a return at the 2025 Women's Six Nations or subsequent Women's Rugby World Cup.

JOHN MITCHELL: "She's (Abby Ward) tracking really well. She'll probably be available for us next week. Then Sadia (Kabeya) has had surgery, Meg (Jones) has had sergery and Catherine's had surgery. Those three (Kabeya, Jones and O'Donnell) will be out (of WXV)."

"It's always, unfortunate. It's unfortunate. They're all good people and world class players, but somebody else has this opportunity, so the great thing for us is that we'll see in (2025) Six Nations, and by the time we get to that point, then we would have developed three other players as well."

With Kabeya out on the injury ward, the door is open for Maddie Feaunati to get her first start in an England shirt this Saturday. The hard-hitting back row has been making waves in the Red Roses squad, after arriving in England from New Zealand in 2023, and enjoying a break-through season with Exeter Chiefs.

Feaunati takes the starting spot on the blindside flank, as the rounds off a back-row with her captain Marlie Packer on the openside, and Gloucester-Hartpury powerhouse Alex Matthews at number eight. Feaunati has made five previous appearances off the bench for England, since her debut in the 2024 Guinness Women's Six Nations, and Packer is excited to see what force the former Hurricane will bring from the start.

MARLIE PACKER: "She's come on leaps and bounds over the time with us. She's a power player, but is actually someone that I really get on with. 'Maddie the Baddy' we call her, and she's growing all the time, and we're really excited for her first start this weekend in the Red Roses shirt, and I think she's really excited."

"I don't know how it came about (the nickname). I think we had a dance evening and we all had to make up nicknames for the different players. So, yeah, I love it, 'Maddie the Baddie', I call her it all the time."

"I played against her, for Saracens against Exeter, a great clash. I played against her, but for me, it was just about making sure my role at Saracens was me playing well in that game. But then as soon as she came into camp, she had a big impression straight away.

"That's what you want. You want someone to come in and have an impression, and obviously being a back row player as well, it keeps you on your toes, and you need to know that you've got up your game. Because, like Mitch (John Mitchell) says, when you've got 21, 22 year olds coming in, you've got to make sure you're sharp at the top."

JOHN MITCHELL: "Maddie has been with us for six, seven months now. So she understands what we do. So we're probably unlikely to bring somebody in that hasn't been with us and understands what we do. So, she very much has an athletic background. You know, 20, 21 years of age probably might be going on 22, so still a very young athlete."

"Well, all the coaches watch (prospect England players) in particular, Sarah (Hunter) watches the back row. If I want to watch somebody as a result of that feedback, or directly, I'll go and do that. No one knows that, I just do that myself. So I watched her probably about three or four times and I liked what she offered, and it started from there really. She's been born in England, brought up in this rugby culture, her father played here. So she comes from a rugby family."

There has been plenty of discussion this week regarding the status of the Red Roses midfield, following the untimely injury to Meg Jones. John Mitchell has gone with the partnership of Tatyana Heard at 12 and Helena Rowland at 13, with the Gloucester-Hartpury and Loughborough Lightning midfielders ready to bring the fight to the French back-line.

Heard spoke in a media session earlier this week about how she will miss the unmatched vocality of Jones, but welcomes the challenge of building a new partnership with whoever gets the nod for the 13 jersey. Emily Scarratt was firmly amongst the conversation for the starting outside centre shirt, as was uncapped hopeful Phoebe Murray. The decision sees 'Scaz' take a seat amongst the replacements, with no place in the match day 23 for Bristol Bears midfielder Murray.

JOHN MITCHELL: "As you can see, we put trust in Megan. We put trust in Helena. I think Scaz (Emily Scarratt) is getting back to to a really good position. So she's not far away. She looks leaner, she looks faster, she's in a good place. So you know, we're very lucky with the depth that's in that position."

"She (Emily Scarratt) can concentrate on as I said, she can still play 12, but I think with a pre-season, the context is quite different to what she experienced last year. She came back from injury. We already had two 13s, so we've been looking for another gain line 12. We're still looking for that second gain line 12 as well. So that hasn't gone from my from my thinking.

"But to give Emily every chance in the preseason to get back to the position that she's really good at (13), we've allowed her to do that. She's done a good job. She's put up a really, really, good case. That's probably the most difficult decision in this mix, having gone for Helena."

An example of how the litany of injuries throughout the England squad, are providing opportunities for new players to step up to the role, is the inclusion of Lilli Ives Campion in the match day 23. The uncapped Loughborough Lightning lock takes up the number 19 shirt amongst the replacements, having been given the call following the injuries to Abby Ward, Cath O'Donnell and Rosie Galligan.

Now is the time for Campion to rise to the occassion, with plenty of anticipation upon her first cap for the Red Roses. Campion's captain Marlie packer was full of praise for the lock, who has been bestowed the nickname 'Queen Lil' by her England skipper. The former England Women U20s captain is a recent graduate of the age-grade system, with the excitement building around the 20-year-old.

MARLIE PACKER: Lilli, Queen Lil, I call her. She's lovely. Obviously, she's come from 20s, captain in under 20s. It was really nice when we came first into pre-season and just chatting about her time, I knew what she was feeling and going on about (as a captain), but again, she stepped up over pre-season.

"I think for me, personally, it's been one of the toughest pre-seasons I've ever been involved in with the Red Roses and with that, I think, the young players that have come up through like Lilli, have really stepped up to it. We talk about 'attack the session', but we've attacked pre-season like that.

"She's reaping up the rewards with being given a place on the bench to receive her first cap. I know myself and the whole squad are really backing her to when she does do it, enjoy it. She's got the performance in her to really perform."

England have established a solid run of dominance against France in recent years, with the Red Roses currently holding a 13 match winning streak against Les Bleus. The last time that France managed to record a win over England was back in the 2018 Women's Six Nations, when France grabbed a narrow one-point win in Grenoble's Stade de Alpes. France have come close to beating England since then, with four matches decided by two points between the rivals.

Whilst the winning streak remains in tact for now, France continue to push on from strength to strength and close down the gap on their European nemesis. With the likes of Manae Feleu leading Les Bleus into their new generation, England understand that despite their recent run of victories against France, they can't afford to get complacent.

MARLIE PACKER: "I think for me, the girls, it's always about the next job. So obviously, things are made in training where it doesn't go our way, and actually it's about if something goes wrong, how do we process that and move on or go forward?

"I think we don't look at it like we beat France in however many games actually, they're our next opponent, that's our focus, and we don't focus about anything else until the job is done. I don't know it's a bit cliche, but we take the first 10 minutes (at a time), first 40, then we go into the second half. But that's generally what we have to do. Because, you know, if you do start wondering, which I don't think any of us do, then the result won't go the way we want it to."

JOHN MITCHELL: "This team's got a lot of belief against France. I think it's only a couple of girls that haven't started or beaten France before. So that's a huge consideration. So yeah, I'm big on trust, big on creating belief around what's been done before, and it just forces others to chase and get better."

"It's unlikely, with a year out now (to the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup) that we're going to expose somebody that's not used to our environment, but there's always, I guess, room for a bolter."