England prop Hannah Botterman on defending their Women’s Six Nations crown, life under new coach John Mitchell and why photo shoots can help the Red Roses bloom.
When the Women’s Six Nations comes around this weekend you would be forgiven for thinking it’s all expected to be one long chapter of status quo rugby.
England are overwhelming favourites to snap up a sixth consecutive title and a third Grand Slam in succession. France are tipped to come close, yet again, and the rest are set to scrap among themselves for the other places.
But from a Red Roses point of view this year’s campaign marks a true new beginning; the official end of an era under the hugely successful Simon Middleton and the commencement of a new chapter with former England men’s assistant coach John Mitchell.
The New Zealander has been in charge since just before England won the inaugural WXV tournament last year but this will be his first Six Nations with the world’s best team.
A switch of figurehead is not the only change, England and Bristol Bears prop Hannah Botterman tells City A.M.
The wider coaching has had a refresh, camp has changed, their style of play is set to see a shift, and personalities are being encouraged to shine away from the pitch in a new top-down push.
The Red Roses have even got their own social media account on X, to much fanfare, if not scepticism, from setup insiders.
“This squad is super exciting. There’s been quite a few changes since Mitchell has come in but they’ve all been good ones,” an excitable Botterman explains.
“We had a camp a couple of weeks ago which was more of a fitness testing camp – which wasn’t my favourite. But we got some good stuff out of that and then this week we’re learning some more and just getting with the girls and spending some time together, which is nice.
“Obviously Mitch has got the way that he wants to play so I think it’s going to be very different to how we’ve played previously in the WXV and the Six Nations. There will be some changes but hopefully it is exciting to watch and good for the spectators. We want to put on a show.”
Botterman on Lionesses and photo shoots
If you were to ask anybody about the biggest moment in British women’s sport this century — if not ever — the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 success against Germany would be close to the top of the list.
And since that watershed moment, the tectonic plates of what is seen as commercially beneficial have drastically shifted.
There are more vocal and public discussions on specialist women’s health in sport, how women’s injuries can differ from men’s, and how the conditions that women play in need to change.
Whether it is Chloe Kelly wheeling away in her Nike sports bra or the swelling crowds at last year’s Women’s Ashes, female personalities are making the headlines for all of the right, powerful, reasons.
“The Women’s Euros was for all women’s sports, not just women’s football,” Botterman adds.
“It did everyone a massive favour and it is catapulting women’s sport. Off the back of it we had nearly 60,000 at Twickenham last year which was huge for us and that was really exciting.
“There’s still a way to go, we’re probably a little bit behind football and cricket, and it’s just about getting a new audience in and getting people to want to watch it and enjoy watching it for women’s rugby.
Prop Botterman is already one of the more senior players in the Red Roses squad, at just 24
“It’s important that we’re authentic. I think the challenge can be that people feel like they need to push something to become something that maybe isn’t as authentic as it could be.
“I think [the rise in] photo shoots, for example, is a really cool way of getting people’s personalities across. Some people aren’t as comfortable with speaking in front of a camera as others, and [because] photo shoots are still images, people don’t need to have anxiety about speaking in front of a camera.
“I think that’s really important. There are characters in the Red Roses squad that definitely need more airtime than they get.
“It’s not always the people that are the loudest, sometimes the quiet ones are the funnier ones, quite frankly.”
‘Grown up’ Botterman leaves ‘joker’ days behind
England’s Women’s Six Nations squad spans 35 players, at least one from each of the nine Premiership Women’s Rugby clubs. It is a squad of youth and experience, stalwarts and newbies.
But Botterman, now one of the senior players in camp despite being just 24, is still learning and growing.
“I would say I’m probably one of the more relaxed people,” she says. “My temperament can vary. If I’ve gotten up early then people probably don’t want to be around me but I like to not take stuff too seriously.
“I don’t like the word joker but I make the occasional joke. I have to take it seriously enough because it’s my job.
“But I just try to enjoy it as much as possible and when maybe in situations where I shouldn’t, when I need to be quiet, I’m not quiet and sometimes it goes against me, but it’s not the end of the world.
“It can get me in trouble sometimes, not so much anymore, but it used to get me in trouble a lot. When I was younger I could be slightly problematic in camp, not in a terrible way.
“There were a couple of instances with Middleton that probably didn’t go in my favour but since then I’ve sort of switched on a bit and grown up.”
England’s Euro success in football has given all of women’s sport a lift, says Botterman
So life is changing for England, though they’ll hope their run of Six Nations results continues given they’re without a loss in the competition for more than 2,000 days.
The coaches are fresh and the camp has a feeling of a new breeze about it, but that doesn’t mean everything should change for change’s sake.
Personalities are being established in the Red Roses squad, in a manner that’s long overdue, but Botterman and her compatriots are determined to play their part in rugby’s Euros moment – likely next year when England host the Rugby World Cup, with a potential 82,000 at the Twickenham final.
Whether that requires something as trivial as an Instagram handle, though, remains in the air.
“We’ve had lots of conversations about the new Instagram handle in the group and with the men’s main page already having such a big reach and profile, we were worried about whether it was the right thing to do,” she adds.
“So it’ll be really interesting to see how it goes. I hope that it’s run to the best of its capacity and I also hope that on the normal England rugby page there is content that continues to come out at the same amount that it has been.
“Just because you’ve got an Instagram page doesn’t mean that coverage has to stop.”
Women’s Six Nations Fixtures 2024
Round One
Sat 23 March France v Ireland (2.15pm, MM Arena, Le Mans)
Sat 23 March Wales v Scotland (4.45pm, Cardiff Arms Park)
Sun 24 March Italy v England (3pm, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma)
Round Two
Sat 30 March Scotland v France (2.15pm, Hive Stadium, Edinburgh)
Sat 30 March England v Wales (4.45pm, Ashton Gate, Bristol)
Sun 31 March Ireland v Italy (3pm, RDS Arena, Dublin)
Round Three
Sat 13 April Scotland v England (2.15pm, Hive Stadium, Edinburgh) Live on BBC
Sat 13 April Ireland v Wales (4.45pm, Musgrave Park, Cork)
Sun 14 April France v Italy (12.30pm, Stade Jean Bouin, Paris)
Round Four
Sat 20 April England v Ireland (2.15pm, Twickenham) Live on BBC
Sat 20 April Italy v Scotland (4.45pm, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma)
Sun 21 April Wales v France (3.15pm, Cardiff Arms Park)
Round Five
Sat 27 April Wales v Italy (12.15pm, Principality Stadium, Cardiff)
Sat 27 April Ireland v Scotland (2.30pm, Kingspan Stadium, Belfast)
Sat 27 April France v England (4.45pm, Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux)