ENGLAND head coach John Mitchell believes delivering a successful autumn will be harder than winning the Women’s Rugby World Cup (WXV).
The Red Roses host France and New Zealand at Kingsholm and Twickenham next month before heading to Canada for the WXV, where they will face the hosts, the United States and the Black Ferns.
It means England clash with their three biggest rivals for the 2025 World Cup in four of their next five fixtures.
The blockbuster schedule begins against France on September 7 and Mitchell views it as a critical phase in the team’s development as they seek to replace New Zealand as global champions.
“This is probably the most important pre-season leading into the long-term goal,” the Kiwi said.
“And the short term is probably harder than a World Cup with the two warm-up Tests before we go to WXV.
“It’s a great challenge. Logistically and rugby-wise it will be just as challenging, if not more challenging, than winning a World Cup.
“To win a World Cup you’ve got to win the last three games but we’ve got New Zealand twice, France once and Canada once. They’re the top three teams in the world.”
Mitchell will make only minor adjustments in selection over the coming weeks with the aim of evolving on the field after his first campaign in charge produced a triumphant Six Nations.
“Our game’s definitely working but we want to get faster at it so we’re looking to add to our attack and our defence,” he said.
“We’ve got what we call DNA strengths that we could always go to, but I see a happier playing group when they’re all involved in the process of attack and in the process of defence, not just relying on units.
“The capacity of the girls is definitely growing and we’re building resilience, which is going to be needed over the course of the next 400 days with the home World Cup coming up.”
Off the field, England are “refreshing their culture” knowing that greater motivation than success alone is needed.
“There’s a higher purpose which we’re playing around with at the moment because we think we have a greater responsibility than just winning,” he said.
“We’ve been wrestling with that for a year and it’s becoming clearer. If you get just hung up on winning, that doesn’t always go for you, so what’s our greater responsibility?
“You often hear about us wanting to consistently play at Twickenham and we’ve got communities to connect to over the next year.
“We’re models for all the younger girls out there and the younger men. We’re offering a new generation of people an opportunity to come and watch a really exciting team.”
