Women’s Six Nations 2026: England ‘go to the trenches’ to achieve Grand Slam
England carved another piece of history into their legacy by winning the 2026 Women’s Six Nations Championship.
No team, men or women, has won back-to-back World Cups and Six Nations. England achieved this in eight months, extending their record winning streak to 38 Tests in the process.
They achieved this despite repeated tests on squad depth, with four players, including captain Zoe Stratford, missing due to pregnancy and more than a dozen players missing matches through injury. Only six of the players who started last year’s World Cup final against France were in the starting 15.
Head coach John Mitchell made his first five appearances in the Championship, recalling Delaney Burns and Liz Crake after a three-year absence, and was forced to take desperate measures in his forward line-up, particularly as a different second-tier pairing was fielded in each game.
A tearful Mitchell told BBC Sport: “It was great to win the World Cup at home, but what we’ve achieved in this tournament – lads doing well, we’ve got friends at home and we’re becoming mums and these girls going through rehab are so brave.”
“I have to take my hat off to the staff and the coaching staff. I want to be grateful for the people who do all the work behind the team to be able to handle so much change but it has made us a much better coaching unit.”
But the New Zealander, who has yet to taste defeat since taking office in late 2023, is not one to rest on his laurels.
This latest victory is part of the evolutionary process and the first step towards back-to-back World Cup titles.
“We wanted to be really determined to win because we want to do the same thing in four years,” Mitchell said.
“For the generation joining us on this journey, they are a different fish and very confident, and Meg has done a great job of helping them understand what it means to be Red Rose.
“We’re in a really good place and today was the first step in being intentional about what we want to do in four years. So I showed a lot of emotion because I love coaching this tournament and the girls showed up.”
