England: 'Only that style of rugby will bring people to watch us'

John Mitchell believes that Saturday’s 14 tries to one hammering of hapless Ireland was a very positive stride forward towards England eventually selling out Twickenham to its full 82,000 capacity. The English stretched their Guinness Six Nations winning streak to 28 with a swashbuckling 88-10 win over the outclassed Irish.

That leaves them one more result away from clinching a sixth successive championship title when they travel to Bordeaux next Saturday to take on France in the final round of the tournament.

However, with the next Rugby World Cup now just 16 months away from being staged in England, Mitchell was delighted that the clinical manner of the English performance should have fans wanting to see the team play more at Twickenham than they currently do.

Saturday’s attendance in London was down from the record 58,498 that attended last year’s Grand Slam decider with France, but the fact that a near-50,000 attendance could be attracted for a match against an Irish team that hadn’t scored against England since 2019 was evidence that fans definitely want to see the English in action at Twickenham regardless of the calibre of the opposition.

“The girls presented a performance today that probably went up a gear,” enthused Mitchell, whose side had performed in fits and starts in their earlier wins in the campaign over Italy, Wales, and Scotland. “We asked that of the girls during the week and they certainly did deliver that.

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“I guess at the end of the day we have still got to drive to fill this stadium consistently, wanting to play here more consistently. So if we can continue to produce performances like that, I think it won’t be too long before we do fill the top green seats.

“From that point of view, it’s only that style of rugby that will bring people to watch us. We know that we have got other strengths as well but yeah, it’s a good sign and we’re only in the infancy of it which is cool.”

Skipper Marlie Packer agreed that England do want to play more at Twickenham, but the veteran was also mindful that it was games elsewhere around the country in recent years that enabled the team to build its support base and convince the authorities to allow them to play at English rugby HQ.

“Most definitely,” she said when asked whether all three home games in next year’s Six Nations should be held at Twickenham in the lead-up to the World Cup.

“We definitely have got one we are playing here but also us, as Red Roses, we have gone on the road and that is how we built a fanbase so that when we do come here it’s not an empty stadium.

“We had 48,000 fans out there today and it’s really special for us and we want to keep growing our fanbase. Of course, we want to play here as much as we can but it’s also let’s keep building the fanbase.”

Switching to the manner of the clinical performance that sets up the title decider versus France, Mitchell added: “Different contest but we will enjoy this moment. We have got plenty of time to start preparing for the next match. We trained very, very hard, trained very specific as well. We’ll just enjoy this as a team and then we will get our focus on Monday and France.

“It doesn’t look good,” he said of the ankle injury that forced Lark Atkin-Davies off in the first half, “but we need more diagnosis, and Rosie (Galligan) dislocated her thumb in the warm-up.”

Massive reception from the crowd as the England and Ireland teams walk out for Six Nations action at Twickenham. #GuinnessW6N #RedRoses #ENGvIRE #EnglandRugby #IrishRugby pic.twitter.com/cHBQ0g6SjI

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 20, 2024

Asked what could England learn from hammering Ireland by a 78-point margin, he explained: “What we can learn from the match is that our plans worked. So that’s the exciting thing, the girls, when you can see the smiles on their faces because they see the reality of the plans being transferred.

“We love building pressure on an opposition both on and off the ball. We find ways to try and squeeze opposition which is a testament to the girls as they go out there and own it and then they see the rewards from it because ultimately at the end of the day the game is about being on the edge, it’s about creating pressure to be able to attack.”

What was the Packer verdict on the thumping win? “We talked about how we wanted to finish this game with smiles on our faces and happy with our performance and we definitely got that today and what better place to do it here at Twickenham, the home of English rugby, our home.

“That was a fine performance. Super proud of all the girls for the way they went out and delivered and I think the fans really loved it. We feed off that as players and we will enjoy the win today but then when Monday comes it’s full focus on France.”