Red Roses victory gives Mitchell plenty of selection headaches ahead of France clash

England’s comprehensive victory over Scotland in Leicester left John Mitchell with more questions than answers over selection for their Guinness Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam decider against France at the Allianz Stadium.

Claudia MacDonald made her bid for a starting spot, bagging a brace and looking a constant threat off the left-wing as the Red Roses won 59-7 at the Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium.

With fellow back Abby Dow also dotting down twice late on to add further glitz to the Scotland drubbing, Mitchell must now decide who will make his favoured XV for his side's biggest match of the tournament.

“There are plenty of headaches for me, it is a great side to select. We are one of the best short passing teams in the world, it is good to see us serving team-mates in a better position,” said Mitchell.

“I have to sit down at home and make a few cups of tea and go through the spreadsheet to pick the side. We have two or three areas of selection I really have to think about. 

“Tactically we have to consider playing France. We are in a good place, the medical team have done a great job and we have our best players available. The girls are responding, it is going to be a year when we will have to continue to adapt.”

Victory in the penultimate game 🙌@RedRosesRugby stormed to a win against Scotland in the #GuinnessW6N 🔥#PWR #PoweredDifferently pic.twitter.com/9YaEi8fZfd

— Premiership Women's Rugby (@ThePWR) April 19, 2025

MacDonald had replaced Jess Breach at 11 after England’s victory in Ireland in which they were criticised for a slow start, but no such criticisms could be levelled at them on Saturday.

The Red Roses ran up a 42-0 advantage in the first-half as MacDonald starred in defence and attack, scoring her first with a darting run before proving her worth at the other end with an incisive interception to stop the Scots at the line.

Former captain Marlie Packer also made her case at flanker in a first start since the opening with a 50th England try.

But Dow, whose first try of the game looked to be a show of individual brilliance as she flew down the right wing handing off three Scottish players during her 50m sprint to dot down, feels the focus should be on the support for each other, rather than competition.

“That sort of try is one that we have to look at as a whole backline. We’ve been looking at how can we develop our individual strengths,” she explained.

“The push from each other to support each other, there’s been a lot of talk about competition on this team, but the amount of support is equally important.

“That’s the sort of try that really shows that. You’ve got Ellie [Kildunne] on the inside giving me the comms and really telling me to go and finish something.

“When we’re playing as one whole team and we’re playing together, that’s when every individual is even more threatening.”

Unstoppable 👊

Abby Dow wasn't letting anyone get in her way 🏉#GuinnessW6N #PWR #PoweredDifferentlypic.twitter.com/Q1sKZfnpRy

— Premiership Women's Rugby (@ThePWR) April 19, 2025

But while England can call on an abundance of talent and captain Zoe Aldcroft admitted to glimpses of “world-class” performance in their first-half showing, their search for perfection means there is still work to do ahead of France.

“We still know we have got so much to work on as well, which is the exciting thing,” added Aldcroft.

“Our maul can be a lot better, and the breakdown - we want to be ruthless in those areas. It is about tweaking the fine details.

“We know France are super physical, we are expecting that next week. We are looking forward to next week and putting some effort into areas we can improve on.”