England continue home World Cup preparations by chasing Six Nations history

John Mitchell wants England to lay the foundations for their home World Cup by continuing to develop throughout the Guinness Women’s Six Nations.

The Red Roses are targeting an unprecedented eighth successive title and fourth consecutive Grand Slam when their Championship defence opens against Italy in York on March 23.

Mitchell has freshened up his side by naming Zoe Aldcroft as captain in place of Marlie Packer, as well as adjusting other elements of England’s set up in the hope of remaining at the summit of the game ahead of this summer’s global tournament.

“We’ve definitely been a side over the years who have been attracted to consistency, so it’s important that we continue to evolve,” Mitchell said at the tournament launch in London.

“We’ve looked at our culture and how that wins very, very strongly. We’ve made some tweaks in leadership and to the flow of the early part of our week. We’ve just got started on evolving our game and we certainly want to evolve.

“We’d like to put our opponents under different kinds of pressure as we go into this tournament and hopefully throughout the year we’re able to consolidate and then take that into preparation for the home World Cup.”

England are preparing for the Six Nations with a camp in Bristol and Mitchell has taken the opportunity to look at emerging talent, calling rookies Charlotte Fray, Jade Shekells, Sarah Parry and Millie David into his most recent squad.

“Experienced players definitely need the balance of youth, the enthusiasm, the energy and freshness that they bring,” Mitchell said.

“We’ve had youngsters like Millie David and Sarah Parry in this week and we’ve all had memories of entering international camps or teams for the first time – it can be quite confronting.

“But they’ve left after four days thinking that yes, they can become a Red Rose and that’s really important.

“It’s a credit to the culture as well that the girls have allowed them to be themselves. Cognitively they had to pick up a lot of knowledge, a lot of detail, but once we get going you can see that they’re able to express themselves.”

The Women’s Six Nations is entering its fifth year in a standalone slot after the men’s tournament when previously the events were run concurrently.

Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm said: “We enjoy the new window. It’s made a big difference. Having a separate window allows us to get more media attention.

“People enjoy the Six Nations and they know it’s not done after the men’s tournament. The warmer weather helps as well, so we’re not complaining about that.”