Women’s Six Nations 2026: Packed stadiums ‘will be the norm’ – Ellie Kildunne
England, who have not lost a Six Nations match since 2018, are aiming for an eighth consecutive title and fifth Grand Slam.
Prior to the tournament, Mitchell had lost four of her matchday squad due to pregnancy in the World Cup final.
Three of them (Zoe Stratford, Abbie Ward and Rosie Galligan) played in the secondary under Mitchell.
Lock Morwenna Talling was sent off on a stretcher against Ireland, while Mitchell confirmed she and reserve attacker Natasha Hunt were likely to miss the remainder of the tournament through injury.
Haineala Lutui, 19, who mostly plays in the back row for the Loughborough Lightning club, made her debut, coming off the bench in place of Talling.
“We have to adapt as we have lost four international locks – we will be a team of back-rowers by the end of the tournament,” Mitchell said.
“If that’s the way it’s going to be, so be it. There are different ways to play this game and if that means using the back rowers then we’ll make it work.”
Megan Jones replaced Stratford as England captain and was named player of the match for a strong defensive performance.
“There were always going to be nerves coming into this campaign after a fantastic World Cup, so there was always going to be that expectation,” Jones told BBC Sport.
“We want to play in front of such a big crowd and sometimes the game can get stuck but we found ways to do it and that’s what a winning team does.
“We’re a little annoyed, but we’ll fix it.”
Mitchell made eight changes from his starting XV for the World Cup final, resulting in a lack of cohesion at times as his team struggled to play an open and expansive brand of rugby.
Scrum half Lucy Packer, who played second fiddle to Hunt during the World Cup, looked lively throughout the match, while 22-year-old lock Lilli Ives Campion was also included in the squad.
Fly-half Holly Aitchison was another player who struggled for starting places at the World Cup but took on the number 10 role from the outset.
“It’s a new team, a new start and a learning curve. We learned a lot today,” Mitchell told BBC Sport.
“Ireland were taken out in the first half but we let them back in and we will learn from that.
“We have tremendous growth ahead of us – we are exposing young people and challenging the nine-ten axis.
“The players will be better based on today’s performance.”
It will be interesting to see whether Mitchell continues his rotation policy or builds cohesion as England face Scotland at Murrayfield next Saturday (13:30 BST).
