Packer’s gritty leadership shores up nervy England at just the right time

R ibcages shook as the bassline dropped. Boom. Boom. Boom. The vibrations matched the march of the teams coming out. Fireworks blasted red and white into the sky and Taylor Swift’s familiar voice sang: “Are you ready for it?” The world record crowd definitely were and it is a good job Twickenham does not have a roof or it would need repairing as these teams are used to breaking the glass ceiling.

England rugby’s reputation needed some patching at their home, given that the last time a team frequented this grass the men were booed off after being destroyed by France in March. If you looked hard enough the cracks in the concrete were still evident, the fortress crumbling at the seams.

Seven weeks to the day and Twickenham was hosting England v France again but this time it was not only the pyrotechnics bringing the fire with the hosts, and particularly their captain, Marlie Packer, lighting up the pitch in their grand-slam winning match.

Packer is relatively new to the job. She captained the team for the first time against South Africa at the World Cup last October, but she now embodies the role as if she has had it for years. The foundations of a team are sometimes shaken when leadership changes, but that has not been a worry for England. Sarah Hunter, England’s all-time appearance record holder, retired after the Red Roses’ opening match in this year’s tournament and left huge boots to fill. The transition to Packer, though, has been seamless and it is not only her leadership qualities that have had her grabbing attention.

She led the defence as the ocean blue of French shirts barraged England early on, with the player of the match, Sadia Kabeya, and Hannah Botterman among those saving the Red Roses. Packer turned the