Captain Marlie Packer set to become only the seventh woman to play 100 Tests for England when she features in Six Nations clash against Italy as she reflects on how the game has grown and aims for 2025 World Cup glory at Twickenham

Marlie Packer will become the seventh woman to play 100 Tests for England on Sunday.

Her journey to this point – through her debut in Amsterdam, juggling her playing career with her day job as a plumber and welcoming her son Oliver into the world – has been remarkable.

But the Red Roses captain is far from done yet as she looks to lead her team to another Six Nations title. Packer is the central figure as John Mitchell’s team aim for their own ‘Everest’ – the challenge of winning the World Cup at home to a sold-out Twickenham in 2025.

“I can safely say that from now until the World Cup final, Twickenham will be a sell-out.” We will raise that bar again in women’s rugby,” Packer told The Mail on Sunday.

‘As a group we talk about our Everest and the summit we are trying to reach. The World Cup final with a sold-out Twickenham is that. It’s something we all aim for.

‘We now have a good product and an audience for women’s rugby. We had 58,000 at Twickenham in the last Six Nations. It was probably the proudest moment of my life being captain that day against France with my son as a mascot. It shows how the game has grown.”

England is the dominant force in women’s rugby. They have won the last five Six Nations. Their streak of 30 consecutive victories came to an end at the worst possible moment in 2022, when they were defeated in the final of the last World Cup by New Zealand. The Red Roses want revenge in 2025.

Packer is the heart of his team. She will mention the milestone of a century of games for her country in Sunday’s Six Nations opener against Italy in Parma.

‘When I started I didn’t even know there was a women’s rugby team representing England. As soon as I did it, I wanted to be a part of it,” she said.

‘I loved playing. It was a sport that allowed me to express myself and the journey I’ve been on from then to now has been absolutely amazing. It’s something I’m really grateful for.

‘My first international cap with the senior team was in Amsterdam in 2008, against Sweden. That was very memorable. After that, it took me three years and three months to get my second internationalization. A lot of things changed in my life at that time and that meant I wanted that second boundary probably more than anything else before in my life.

‘I was a young 18-year-old and still at university when I got my first cap. In 2012, my first Six Nations, we won a Grand Slam. I played every game and got the player’s player award.

“Back then our awards event was at Esher Rugby Club as an after party after we had won a Grand Slam against Ireland. Now we have a dazzling awards evening to share with the men.

‘A lot has changed. There were a couple hundred people and some dogs in Esher that day. Now we play to almost 60,000 people.’

Packer has had to order extra tickets so her family and friends can join her in Italy on what should be an unforgettable day. It is unlikely that Italy can live with the pace and power of England.

In their first campaign under new coach Mitchell, the Red Roses look to evolve their game to become a more offensive team.

“Women’s sport in general is in a great place right now,” said Packer, who tasted world glory with England in 2014 and also started in the 2017 and 2022 losses to New Zealand.

‘We want to break glass ceilings. I see it as trying to be a pioneer of greatness. I want to maximize this time because after the World Cup I don’t know where my career will go.

‘Before I had Oliver, I didn’t think it would change anything. He gives me perspective. It’s something I didn’t know he needed but also something I’m really grateful for.

“No matter how good or bad my day at rugby is, I walk through the front door and know I’m going to get a big smile from him. “I joke that it’s Oliver’s world and I just live in it.

“He makes me laugh because he knows when I’m a little sore from rugby.

‘He says, “Mom, do you have a bad back?” and I say: “Yes!” He loves coming to train. He always asks to go to mom’s work.

“There is no better feeling than knowing that we have a World Cup at home in 2025 and that we are number one in the world right now. We will show it at home.”