'Blow everyone's minds' - England superstars on how women's rugby is evolving ahead of 2024 Six Nations

Super Saturday may have seen Ireland lift the Six Nations trophy yet again, but rugby fans fear not - the action is far from over. The Women’s competition commencing this weekend, with England beginning their eagerly anticipated title defence with a clash against Italy. 

The Red Roses will be seeking yet another Grand Slam after defeating France in a dramatic 38-33 triumph final day in last year’s Six Nations in front of a record-breaking crowd. 

Twickenham was packed with 58,498 fans who witnessed Simon Middleton’s squad defeat the French in an enthralling encounter, and this year the stadium will play host to a bold, new-look England team who face both Ireland and Wales on home soil, alongside trips to Italy, Scotland and France.

One figure who will soon be representing the Red Roses under the new management of John Mitchell is TNT pundit and England’s highest ever points-scorer, Emily Scarratt. 

The Loughborough Lightning and Red Rose superstar has only just returned from a 13 month lay-off after undergoing neck surgery. However, she was quick to impress the Red Rose coaches and has earned herself an immediate recall into the squad. 

Ahead of the tournament NationalWorld sat down with the full-back as well as fellow TNT pundit and former England World Cup winning captain Katy Daley-McLean to discuss just what we should expect to see over the next month of action. 

The first thing to ask, of course, is whether we are going to be able to see a repeat of such ground-breaking crowds as last year, to which Scarratt - who has amassed over 600 points for her country - said: “I really hope (we see the numbers) as that's our one big game this season that everyone can pile in and come to Twickenham and be part of the day. It’s not just the game, it's a whole day.

“I think we’ve really seen the following, the support has grown throughout the PWR, that “local support as well and I really hope so - I believe it can. There will have been factors last year - obviously it was a Six Nations Final and that will have drawn more people. But I think an England vs Ireland game in the Six Nations is a pretty attractive game to go watch in terms of the traditional rivalry that goes on there.”

Such crowds provide new challenges for Women’s rugby squads, with the sound of nearly 60,000 people obscuring the cries from the players on the pitch, but of course this is a hugely exciting problem to be facing with Scarratt hopeful that the frenetic atmosphere will continue to grow.

“First of all (the noise) is awesome!” the full-back exclaimed. “That’s exactly what you want but yeah it makes it difficult. You think about line-outs and how they’re usually called through verbal communication. You might have to change hand signals. You have to be a lot clearer, potentially have bigger conversations in gaps because you can’t have small-talk when you’re 10m apart. Picking up bits like that. 

“(We) can use hand signals, and hopefully you can rely on the fact that you’ve got a good amount of training in the bank - there’s that feeling and that eye that happens. Good problems to have! The forwards have previously practised their line-outs with a speaker blaring next to them! Things like that to get used to it because it is a distraction that hopefully we’re going to get more used to.”

Last year, England's clash with Ireland match saw the former demolish their opponents 48-0. Ireland were ultimately handed the tournament's wooden spoon - comparing their struggles to the Grand Slam successes of their male counterparts, it was becoming impossible not to see a real disparity emerging within Irish Rugby Union. 

When probed on how the Irish could fare this tournament, Daley-McLean - who now works as Sale Sharks women performance lead - warned that there was set to be an increased focus on Ireland’s Scott Bemand, who was appointed the Ireland head coach in 2023 following seven years as England Women’s team attack coach. 

“I think there’s a lot of pressure on Scott Bemand”, Daley-McLean admitted. “He’s got a tough task, we will definitely see an improvement, they’ve got some very very good players. But the problem for Irish rugby is the support that they’re getting. 

“As England and France and all the other nations are getting more support, more time together, it’s not about the quality of players, it’s about infrastructure and staffing support. I think it’ll definitely be better, but I’m hoping they’ll get more support. The more support they get, the more it will allow their quality to come through. But I still think it will be a tough Six Nations for Ireland.”

England will once again host the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025, and the Red Roses will be hell-bent on claiming the trophy they came so close to winning in 2022. But there are other barriers to continue breaking, with next year’s competition hoping to welcome a sell-out crowd to the Twickenham stadium for the grand finale. 

Scarratt’s first World Cup came in 2010 and 15 years later she shows no signs of slowing down with the prospect of sell-out crowds only furthering her drive to keep playing.

“I reflected earlier on 2010,” Scarratt remarked. “Home world cup and my first one and that was unbelievable. The support that we had was ridiculous at the time. So you fast forward to 2025, given how much has changed, how much the landscape around women's rugby has changed.

"The prospect about the support we’re going to have, the followers and everything around it. It could be pretty amazing. I think it’s going to be - not surprising because I don't think it will be surprising - but it could blow everyone’s minds how big it could be.”

The Women’s Six Nations tournament begins this Saturday 23 March with France vs Ireland. England will travel to face Italy at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Sunday 24 March with kick-off set for 3pm GMT.

Watch the Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby live on TNT Sports and streaming on discovery+