Meg Jones replaces pregnant Red Roses captain for Six Nations

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John Mitchell has put his faith in Meg Jones who played a prominent role in England’s victorious World Cup campaign - Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Zoe Stratford (nee Aldcroft) will miss this year’s Women’s Six Nations after announcing she is pregnant with her first child, with Meg Jones taking over as England captain.

Gloucester-Hartpury forward Stratford, who led the Red Roses to World Cup glory last year, confirmed her baby is due in September.

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Stratford and her husband Luke revealed the news on Instagram:

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A post shared by Zoe Stratford (@zoealdcroft_)

John Mitchell, the Red Roses head coach, will name his Six Nations squad on Friday, but he has already given the captaincy to Jones. “Meg reflects our values; her personality, capabilities and leadership are hugely valuable,” said Mitchell. “She brings an infectious energy that lifts those around her.”

What has Jones said about being awarded the captaincy?

Jones steps up from her vice-captaincy role following an outstanding 2025, in which she became an attacking lynchpin for the Red Roses. She will be supported by vice-captains Amy Cokayne and Alex Matthews, both of whom have won more than 80 caps for England.

“Firstly, I’m really excited for Zoe and wish her and Strats every happiness on their news,” Jones said. “It’s a huge honour to have been named captain of the Red Roses. Mitch and I have built a strong relationship over the past three years and it’s a great feeling to have his trust to lead the group along with a tight leadership team.

“I’m buzzing to get back in camp with the girls for the Six Nations. I’ll just be the same old Meg and know I’ll have great support from Zoe, the leaders and the whole squad.”

Jones has become an attacking lynchpin for England - Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Are other players on maternity leave?

Yes, Stratford is the third player, after Bristol Bears duo Abbie Ward and Lark Atkin-Davies, to announce they are pregnant.

The trio will continue to be paid in full during their six months of maternity leave in line with the Rugby Football Union’s world-leading maternity policy, which was announced in 2023. Ward had her first child, Hallie, in the same year.

Who else is missing from the World Cup-winning squad?

Emily Scarratt announced her retirement from rugby after last year’s World Cup alongside winger Abby Dow, who has left the sport to pursue her passion for engineering.

Emily Scarratt (centre) has moved into a coaching role having announced her retirement last year - Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Experienced centre Scarratt won 119 caps over a 17-year career while Dow was one of the team’s most dangerous attacking threats.

What changes have been made to the coaching team?

Scarratt has taken up a specialist coaching and mentoring role with the RFU this season, supporting player development and helping nurture the next generation. For the Six Nations, she will also take charge of England’s attack and backs.

Scarratt is being supported in her role by former Australia head coach Jo Yapp, who is acting in a consultancy role until the end of the season before beginning a new post as the RFU’s head of women’s pathway.

Lou Meadows, who in 2023 was appointed as England’s attack coach under Mitchell, has left her post, but former England captain Sarah Hunter (defence) and Louis Deacon (forwards) remain in their roles.

Which new faces can we expect?

With a number of key personnel missing, this will be a transitional Six Nations for England, who will be bidding for an eighth consecutive title.

Dow has left a huge hole on one Red Roses wing, where Bristol youngster Millie David could get a look-in. Blessed with raw pace, David has trained with the senior squad over the past two seasons and has been tipped as Dow’s successor.

Jones and Tatyana Heard will be the obvious centre pairing, but Sarah Parry, who has excelled in both centre positions for Harlequins this season, could offer more depth in the midfield. Parry has previously been named in multiple Red Roses training squads.

In the forwards, Parry’s clubmate Nicole Wythe could be an exciting option at blindside flanker. “She’s such a powerful athlete,” Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, the Black Ferns and Harlequins flanker, told Telegraph Sport. “She’s so hard to tackle in training. She’s all gas and no brakes.”

Steph Else, a young talent at Gloucester-Hartpury who can operate at blindside flanker or No 8, has also been on Mitchell’s radar too.

With Atkin-Davies’s pregnancy, Cokayne will be England’s first-choice hooker, which means May Campbell could see more game time. Connie Powell, who fell out of selection contention after the 2022 World Cup, could also be named in an England Six Nations squad for the first time in Mitchell’s tenure.

Ellie Kildunne: You wish unions would back the girls more

England’s Ellie Kildunne and Ireland’s Aoife Wafer at Allianz Stadium ahead of the Women’s Six Nations - Clara Molden for The Telegraph

England full-back Ellie Kildunne has urged other unions to follow the Rugby Football Union’s world-leading support of its female players ahead of the Women’s Six Nations.

Kildunne is expected to feature in England’s opening match of the championship when they face Ireland at Allianz Stadium on April 11, which will be their first game since being crowned world champions.

More than 66,000 tickets have already been sold for the occasion, which will set a new attendance for a Women’s Six Nations match, with Kildunne likely to come up against her Harlequins team-mate Aoife Wafer.

Wafer has emerged as a huge force in Irish women’s rugby but, in accordance with Irish Rugby Football Union rules, had to forfeit her international contract after signing for the Premiership Women’s Rugby club last summer.

“We’ve been massively supported by the Rugby Football Union and you can only hope that that can be recognised across other unions as well,” Kildunne told Telegraph Sport.

“It isn’t something you think about because when the whistle goes you’re playing rugby against each other. Ireland are still a phenomenal team. Canada are the same – they got to a World Cup final and they’ve not been funded in the way we have in England – but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a World Cup champion or a Six Nations champion. You wish that unions would see that opportunity and back the girls as much as they deserve. They deserve more. I hope for equality within women’s rugby, full stop.”

Kildunne and Wafer locked horns when England first hosted Ireland at the home of English rugby in 2024, where the visitors were thrashed 88-10 in front of 48,778 fans. But given Ireland’s improvement – Scott Bemand’s side beat five-time World Cup winners New Zealand in 2024 in WXV – the hope is that next month’s contest will be more of a competitive spectacle.

England dominated Ireland in the 2024 Women’s Six Nations - Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

“That was the first time a lot of us had played in a big stadium,” Wafer said. “I think it got to a lot of the girls, walking in and being surrounded by people. The whole stadium was screaming for the Red Roses and for a lot of the girls it was the first time they’d experienced a crowd that big.”

In a significant step forward, Ireland women will play at the Aviva Stadium this year for the first time in over a decade when they host Scotland on the final day of the championship. 

“Hopefully that’ll be a near sell-out because we’re at the stage where we deserve it,” Wafer said. 

“When we played the Kiwis in Brighton at the World Cup there were like 27,000 Irish people there. We’d go out for coffee and you’d go out with a list of like 20 coffee orders because nobody wanted to leave the hotel as you’d get mobbed as soon as you walked out the door. But that 27,000 hasn’t yet been translated into our stadiums, so I think the Six Nations will be important for us to try and build on that.”

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