England Red Rose head coach John Mitchell said sky sports Changing the captaincy from Marlie Packer to Zoe Aldcroft was “not good” for the former and for Mitchell himself.

Mitchell announced last week that 28-year-old Locke Oldcroft would replace Parker – England’s captain in the last two Six Nations Grand Slams – for the 2025 Women’s Six Nations, which starts on March 22. National competition.

Parker was named vice-captain alongside Meg Jones and was also named the 2023 World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year, but Mitchell has previously said competition for Parker’s back-row places is for Aldcroft to captain part of the decision.

talking sky sports On Wednesday, the 60-year-old admitted it was a difficult moment.

“It’s not good for Marlee. It’s not good for me to do it, but I have to do it for the best interest of the Red Rose. She’s treating it like a champ, which is huge,” Mitchell said .

“I went to see Marlee, which I think is important when you have tough decisions to make. Even though Marlee is definitely hurting, she’s made a difference in camp. It’s a real testament to her , the way she has put it on the chin.

“I want to be really clear about leadership so that the culture can move forward with the right behaviors this year – and how we can contribute to that.

“You have to respect Mary, she was a fantastic woman and a great England rugby player and captain… You have to be sympathetic to the change. It’s nothing personal.

“I just feel like we have a lot of competition for the number seven spot – we really have competition everywhere – so, for me, the question at the time was ‘Who’s on the roster every week?’ And He has to be the most consistent player in the group.

“That’s why I thought of Zoe. She was well-respected among her peers, she led by example in training and was at the forefront of her performances. She was also a lovely woman who cared.

“She still gets compliments from Marlee, who brings a different set of skills and strengths, and Meghan, who holds people accountable, and another person who is very consistent.

“They fit into the leadership team that leads the culture. It’s a really good fit for this team.”

This month’s training camp is about to begin after the Red Roses won their third successive Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam.

Indeed, England won a sixth consecutive Six Nations title in 2024 and a third consecutive Grand Slam, beating France 42-21 in Bordeaux in the fifth round against the Women’s Six Nations. A wonderful performance in the other half of the team’s historic “Grand Slam”. two. ‘

There is also the issue of the upcoming home Rugby World Cup in England on 22 August.

“This is a big year. We need to be excited about the opportunities,” Mitchell added.

“All the choices we make during the year have to be crucial to our goals, but we can’t make it bigger than it is. We have to stay awake and work as hard as we can.

“The Six Nations will be our home base as we look to grow the game. There’s still a lot of room for improvement.

“We’re excited about where the game goes next. We’ll test it in the Six Nations and then hopefully we can go even further in the World Cup.”

Aldercroft: My heart was beating 100 miles an hour when I heard the news | ‘Parker is awesome’

Aldercroft has captained the national team on several occasions before, her first in November 2021 during the team’s 89-0 win over the United States, and during the 2024 Six Nations, she Led the national team to comprehensive victories over Wales and Scotland.

Her reaction after getting Mitchell’s call was one of pure excitement.

“I’m very, very grateful to have been selected to captain England. It’s a huge honor and privilege to be able to lead these incredible girls,” Aldercroft told Sky Sports.

“We are extremely honored to have so many great people and leaders on this team already. It’s incredible to be able to move the entire Red Rose environment forward.

“He (Mitchell) called me over Christmas and explained why, how to lead by example and not change who I am – staying true to who I am – which was obviously really nice to hear.

“He just said it was boring. My heart was beating like 100 miles an hour. I was at home in the kitchen…hanging up the phone and calling my husband real quick. It was awesome, super exciting.

“Obviously this is the first time we’ve met as Red Roses this year, so it’s been great to catch up with everyone and see what everyone’s been up to and get a clear understanding of how we want to approach the year – for ourselves Setting some values ​​so that we can be the phenomenal team we want to be this year.”

When asked how Parker has been doing since the big announcement, Aldercroft was full of praise.

“We’ve seen what Mary brings as captain, she’s an incredible energy driver and solves any problem that needs to be solved – she’s been an incredible player over the past few years. ‘s captain. Her support has been absolutely incredible and she’s been fantastic, to be honest,” added Aldcroft.

“She (Parker) has (given advice). She said sometimes I might just have to go to my room and take a break.

“Honestly, she’s so, so important. If I absolutely need anything, then I know she’ll always be there for me. It’s been great to have her support.

“We also have the wider leadership team. We met in London last week and discussed how our dynamics are going to work and how we drive the squad, the culture and everything on the pitch.

“It’s really important that we dig into how we communicate with each other, how we like to talk to each other and what people’s primary roles are.

“Our main values ​​are ‘Courage’, ‘Bonding’, ‘Leadership’. We looked at what Red Rose looks like, behaves and feels like. We dug into it as a group. It was really good to get everyone’s thoughts, and Now we can live by it and become the kind of people we want to be in this environment. ”