John Mitchell's appointment as head coach of England Women in late 2023 came with a crystal-clear objective.

He took over a Red Roses side that had been all-conquering at Six Nations level but remained the nearly team of women's rugby on the world stage - perennial in both name and nature.

While no nation had reached more Women's Rugby World Cup finals than England (eight), none had lost as many (six). Their victories in 1994 and, most recently, in 2014 were exceptions rather than the rule.

Mitchell was tasked with applying the World Cup-winning finishing touches to a project that already had all the ingredients for success - but those ingredients needed assembling by a coach willing to start from scratch.

His wealth of experience in almost every conceivable role within men's rugby ens

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