Marlie Packer edges Sadia Kabeya in my best England XV

Telegraph

30-03-2025

Never have I known a time of such depth in the England squad. John Mitchell made 13 changes to the team that beat Italy, yet the team that beat Wales delivered an even more convincing performance.
At the moment, the players in England A and England B would get into most of the other Six Nations teams. That is not arrogant or rude; that is just the quality England have. People like Poppy Cleall and Connie Powell are not even getting into the squad.
So now we have seen most of the squad play over the opening two rounds of the Women's Six Nations, what is England's best XV? Here is my selection…
15. Ellie Kildunne
Who else? Fifty caps, a hat-trick, most carries and most metres made against Wales. Emma Sing is very good but is more pragmatic. Ellie is on a different level; she is in great form and is playing with so much confidence that she is really backing herself.
14. Abby Dow
She looked very good against Wales and took her tries well. The addition of a kicking game is huge. If England move the ball to the edge and there is nothing on, she has a big boot and can make territorial gains.
13. Meg Jones
Emily Scarratt played well against Italy, taking the ball to the line and putting people into space, but Meg edges it with her footwork and evasion. Her try against Wales showed how dangerous she is with ball in hand and she links well with the outside backs.
12. Tatyana Heard
The way England play suits Tat. She had some nice touches and inter-links with Meg in Cardiff, and she brings the directness England need at times with her go-forward.
11. Mia Venner
The strength in her carries really stood out against Italy. She looks more dangerous than Jess Breach; in a tight space Mia has more of a physical presence and if she had a one-on-one in the five-metre channel, she looks more comfortable moving in from the touchline. Jess needs time to find the form she has shown in the league in the international game.
10. Zoe Harrison
Her kicking game caused Wales a lot of problems and the cross-field kick for Dow's first try was perfectly executed. The width England get comes from her quality. We have not seen Holly Aitchison at 10 yet but she needs to find some form. Zoe edges Helena Rowland from the first two games.
9. Natasha Hunt
One hundred per cent 'Mo' at nine. The variation of her kicks, how quickly she identifies space, the width she gets with her passing, the speed she gets the ball away from the base… she allows England to operate in the way they do.
1. Hannah Botterman
A really dynamic forward. Her scrummaging is excellent – she made a huge difference to England's scrum when she came on early against Wales – but she also has soft skills at the line and if England need her to bulldoze she can. She just looks so accomplished.
2. Amy Cokayne
It's a tight call but she offers a little more around the park than Lark Atkin-Davies. She could get a charge-down, she likes a carry, she is a good handler of the ball… Lark is a really good line-out thrower and a safe pair of hands, but Amy offers something a little bit different.
3. Sarah Bern
Like Hannah, she is so destructive in the carry and that is what separates them from other props in the world, given how well they both scrummage. She is quick and powerful and is hard to stop when she is on the move.
4. Rosie Galligan
Rosie was really good against Italy and impressed with her carries. She made it over the gain-line and would not accept the first tackle, she would work to get past contact. Usually second rows hit a lot of rucks but Rosie is also a very good ball-carrier.
5. Abbie Ward
She was outstanding against Wales with her work-rate and the variation in her game. She is such a great line-out operator, but she is also good with ball in hand and the effort she puts in to get on the end of line breaks, like Zoe Aldcroft's against Wales, is really impressive.
6. Zoe Aldcroft
The captain can obviously play lock, too, but she has a lot more freedom at six and looks really comfortable there. The way she lines up on the field, she comes on a tip line a bit further out from nine where there is more space and we saw that pay off with the line breaks she made against Wales.
7. Marlie Packer
This is the toughest call. I have gone back and forth between Marlie and Sadia Kabeya, but with Rosie and Abbie in the second row, Marlie edges it. She brings a little more of the dogged work, puts her head in places others do not and wins turnovers. You need somebody to get stuck in and graft.
8. Maddie Feaunati
This comes with the caveat that we have not yet seen Alex Matthews in this Six Nations. Maddie is still pretty raw, but the amount of work she gets through and the tries she has scored stand out. Al is fiercely competitive and will have seen that Maddie has gone well so she will not sit on her laurels. It will be interesting to see Al against Maddie in form.