Packer wants to 'inspire' young women at World Cup

Marlie Packer says she wants to remain England captain for next year's Rugby World Cup and "inspire" future generations of young women.

Fresh off the back of a comeback win over Canada to seal the WXV1 title, the Red Roses were drawn in Pool A against Australia, the United States and Samoa for the 2025 showpiece tournament.

Packer said she "would have never dreamt" of being in the position she is today, leading the world number one women's rugby team who have now won 50 of their past 51 matches.

While there is a lot of rugby to be played before next summer - both domestically and internationally - Packer is setting her sights on winning the biggest prize on home soil.

"I want the Red Roses to be successful and go out there and win it, and I want to be a part of that," Packer, 35, told BBC Radio Somerset.

"This is a really exciting time. We’ve got a strapline in the Red Roses to 'do it for the girls'.

"Whether that’s for yourself back when you were seven years old, you now, or the future generations. It’s about everything and that is what we want to do come 2025.

"We want to inspire the future but also the pioneers of the game that got us on the map and put all the hard work in when there wasn’t funding, when the game was in such a different place to where it is now. That’s what we want to win [the 2025 World Cup] for."

The only defeat England have suffered in the past five years was the 2022 World Cup final against New Zealand.

But the Red Roses are unbeaten since Packer took on the captaincy during the 2023 Six Nations - something she is proud of and believes will continue.

"Since I’ve been captain we’ve not lost a game, so I’ll have that one at the moment," she said.

"You’ve got five games in the Six Nations, you’ll have a couple of warm-up games and then you’ll have the World Cup.

"So you’re looking around that 30 mark again to whether we can win that World Cup final, which in my head it’s a definite 'yes'.

"We just need to make sure we work really hard as a group and keep inspiring each other, and remembering why we are the best in the world is because we push each other to be the best."

Packer, who has returned from the WXV1 tournament to Saracens for the Premiership season, said captaining England and the success they have enjoyed is often a "pinch-me moment".

"I just feel very - not lucky, but very honoured and privileged to be in the place I am," she added.

"There is a lot of hard work and sacrifices that have gone alongside it. But to be able to say you’ve run out for your country as captain and travelled the world through a sport that you love doing is pretty special."