Tatyana Heard confident England can cope with ‘massive’ midfield loss

Tatyana Heard believes England can cover for the “massive loss” of centre partner Megan Jones as the Red Roses prepare to face France in a WXV warm-up at Kingsholm on Saturday.

Heard and Jones formed a formidable midfield partnership during the Guinness Women’s Six Nations earlier this year, helping to steer John Mitchell’s side to another Grand Slam.

Jones has since been ruled out of this month’s matches against Les Bleues in Gloucester and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, as well as England’s WXV 1 campaign in Canada, due to what was described as a “significant ankle injury”.

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With exactly one year to go until Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 kicks off
in Sunderland, excitement is sweeping across the host nation in anticipation of what
will be the biggest and most accessible celebration of women’s rugby ever.

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“It’s a massive loss,” Heard said. “Obviously, Meg’s huge for us. Her personality on and off field is massive, and we’ve obviously really, really missed her.

“But, as Mitch (Mitchell) has alluded to, it creates opportunities for other people to slot into that 13 shirt. So, it should be an interesting few weeks and an exciting time for whoever gets that opportunity.”

Emily Scarratt, Helena Rowland and Phoebe Murray are among the players in the current squad who could fill the vacant 13 jersey.

Mitchell had not planned to tinker with his line-up too much on the road to Canada and Heard is confident the identity of the person outside her won’t have a huge impact on the way she plays.

“I don’t think my game necessarily changes massively based on who’s around me,” Heard said. “I do play quite differently to a lot of other 12s, so I think that I don’t really change the way I play.

“I think the biggest difference is just that noise level. Nobody can be louder than Meg can they, so it’s just that noise level and the awareness of what’s going on outside you is something you adapt to.”

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She added: “[I will] just play the same game and we still have the same goals as a group and we still have the same focuses, I guess, going into each game and what we want to work on.

“So, I don’t think it really changes based on personnel. It’s more like the personnel come in, each player has to adapt and play what they see.”

A series of serious injuries have meant that Heard’s England career to date has been something of a slow burn.

Despite making her debut almost six years ago, the 29-year-old has only 22 caps to her name.

But having started seven of the Red Roses’ last 10 Tests – and fronted a promotional campaign for the team this week – does she feel, finally, like a settled member of the squad?

“I actually still don’t really but I think it’s because I am quite a quiet presence and keep myself to myself a lot of the time,” Heard said.

“I’m not one of those outgoing team-mates who like to be seen and heard and stuff all the time. I just like to get the work done and lay as low as possible.

“But I am really, really enjoying it. I’ve loved pre-season – most of it. Obviously, how much can you love running?

“But I really enjoy working hard for this group of girls and being involved in it. So, I’m just enjoying every moment while it lasts.”

Gloucester-Hartpury centre Heard is excited to experience the “incredible environment” of Kingsholm as an England player on Saturday.

And she is well aware that her side have an opportunity to lay down a sizeable marker as they play France and New Zealand, fourth and second in the World Rugby Rankings respectively, on consecutive weekends.

“We’re always trying to grow our game and make sure that we’re adapting and evolving around each of our performances, so I think it’s massive for us,” Heard said.

“We always want to improve on our previous performance, and our previous performance was France out in Bordeaux (a 42-21 win). And that, again, was a really, really tough game.

“So, I think this weekend and next weekend are huge opportunities for us. When you come up against the top four teams in the world, you want to beat them.”