England have set their sights on a Women’s Six Nations sell-out as they prepare to return to action at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham for the first time since securing World Cup glory.
The Red Roses triumphed on home soil in September in front of a capacity crowd of 81,885, beating Canada in the final to win the tournament for the first time since 2014.
The attendance vastly exceeded the previous record of 58,498 achieved for the Women’s Six Nations game against France in 2023, the first standalone Red Roses fixture held at Twickenham.
John Mitchell’s side are set to open this year’s Six Nations campaign against Ireland at the ground and are on track to shatter their previous tournament record, with more than 50,000 tickets already sold for the game on 11 April.
Lock Abbie Ward hopes that the Red Roses may sell the ground out again as a sign of how the tournament success has transformed the sport.
“We all said we wanted to capture the momentum of the World Cup,” said Ward, speaking outside 10 Downing Street with the Red Roses invited to a celebratory reception with the Prime Minister.
“We didn’t want it to be this one-off event that was amazing and then it never happen again. Whether we thought we could fill Twickenham as soon as the first game of the Six Nations, I’m not sure, but it’s looking like it could head that way.
“That shows just how much we captured the whole nation’s imagination. And not just ours – we know how much excitement there has been in the Home Nations around us, so hopefully there will be a big Irish contingent. Our fans are incredible. They keep showing up in more and more numbers.”
It is customary for World Cup-winning England teams to visit Downing Street soon after their success, however the Red Roses’ triumph clashed with the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. The reception continues a week of celebrations for the team, with a Champions Ball held on Wednesday night and a visit to Windsor Castle earlier on Thursday.
The England squad gathered en masse this week for the first time since the World Cup, with head coach Mitchell naming an enlarged group of 47 players for a non-rugby training camp.
Included within that party of 47 were a number of uncapped players who will push for places over the next cycle as the Red Roses look to extend their 33-match winning run.
“It was about reflecting and decompressing as a squad, and then looking forward to the Six Nations,” flanker Sadia Kabeya explained. “Mitch is big on bond and that culture in the team, and there were quite a few of young girls in, so it was nice to integrate some of them with the World Cup squad.
“What better time to come in that after a World Cup cycle that we’ve just won? Building off that momentum is not just for the fans and the outside world, it is for the squad as well. You can see that excitement from the girls coming in. They all seem very positive.”
While centre Emily Scarratt and wing Abby Dow have retired, and hooker Lark Atkin-Davies will miss the Six Nations after announcing that she is pregnant, the rest of the World Cup-winning squad remains intact entering 2026.
“I came in after the 2014 World Cup win,” Ward said. “That was my first camp, which was exciting to be in. The difference then was that most of the squad had transitioned to sevens, so it was completely new look. I think we’ve pretty much retained everyone, so we are bringing them into our environment and really showing them what the Red Roses are about. It’s pretty special.”
