Red Roses Captain Marlie Packer on motherhood, training and winning
2024 champions womens Six Nations rugby captain Marlie Packer on team training, nutrition, motherhood and parenting, Grand Slams and injury recovery
England Red Roses have now won six Women’s Six Nations in a row, defeating France 42-21 in Bordeaux at the end of this year’s championship to reach a triple Grand Slam. It was the most-watched sporting event in the UK on the weekend the final was aired, and solidifies the snowballing interest in women’s sport year on year. According to Future Sports & Entertainment, the Women’s Six Nations TikTok channel also saw an increase in views of 586% on the channel from 2022 – 2023, according to Marketing Week.
At the helm of the victorious team is Captain Marlie Packer. She played for the winning England 15s team in the 2014 World Cup, and in the 2017 team for the Women’s Rugby World Cup. In 2019, she was part of the victorious Six Nations Grand Slam team, and is a seven-time Grand Slam champion. She’s also England’s all-time top forwards try-scorer, and this year’s game against Italy saw her earn her 100th cap.
But what fans also love about her is that Marlie is a mother – to three-year-old Oliver – and that parenting has enhanced her rugby and sportswomanship.
When WH spoke to Marlie, the Red Roses were one match away from their 2024 triumph, laser-focused on their strategy and game plan for taking on France. Here, she shares insights into the team’s training routine and nutrition, recovering from setbacks such as injury, and the importance of parenthood.
How are you training for Six Nations? What does a typical week of exercise look like and how does that change when you’re not preparing for competition season?
‘With the Red Roses, it’s about maximising every little bit of time:
- On Monday, we have an organisation session, where we go through the game plan: whom we’re going to play against at the end of the week and how. Then there’s strategy group, so that will be your lineout (when play is restarted after the ball has gone into touch, the area outside two touch-lines that demarcate the playing area) leads; your defence leads; and your attack strategy – they’ll all come together. We’ll also go to an organisational session, where we’ll run through our play strategy – we do that for all our new plays or the plays that week. And that’s both attack and defence. Then we’ll do a gym session.
- Tuesday is Black Panther day, our defence day. That’s a very intense session, usually about an hour long. We also have the beginning of what we call ‘Cram the Exam’, where we give the game-day drivers [information] to feed to the girls.
- Wednesday is more of a typical fix-up day – so fixing units; sometimes the forwards will do lineouts and walk through at a low pace; we’ll work through any individual needs that different players have got. We’ll be in the gym as well, making sure that we’re sorting out any niggles, and [working on our] flexibility.
- Thursday’s our attacking session in the morning and then we’ll travel to our game destination.
- On Friday we’ll have a team run; we’ll play on a Saturday; then we’ll have Sunday off.
‘If you’ve got a six-day turnaround, you’ll lose one of those rugby sessions or a few will get merged into one for recovery purposes.’
What is your attitude to fitness for rugby?
‘I do it because if I don’t nail those gym sessions, I won’t be the best rugby player in the world. Do I love going to the gym or running? No, probably not. My favourite part is going out there and running into someone as hard as I can.’
What’s your nutrition like at the moment?
‘We’re camp-based at the moment. We have breakfast, lunch and snacks [prepared by] our nutritionist. We also have fruit cut up ready for us and a drink for meetings in between training. When I’m back at home, meal prepping for me [involves] making sure that the right foods are in the house and that I never go shopping hungry.
‘For dinner, I’ll have a chicken breast or any kind of protein meat – steak, fish – and veg. How many carbohydrates you have for lunch or dinner depends if it’s a high-training day.’
‘For breakfast, perhaps I’ll have an omelette or poached or scrambled eggs, for protein, and a piece of toast. If it’s a high-load training day, I might get a piece of bacon or ham.’
We’re in the 23rd edition of the women’s Six Nations and England’s looking to make it to six champion victories in a row. How do you feel to be part of this team?
‘I’m really excited to be a part of this team. We’re oozing confidence and we’ve got a really special bond – it’s the closest England side that I’ve been in for a long time [in terms of] how players interact with each other and get on well.
‘Mitch [John Mitchell, Red Roses head coach] told us at the beginning of this preseason that he wanted us to let off the handbrake. If we did things wrong, it was okay.
‘What an occasion the match against Ireland at Twickenham was, in front of 49,000 fans and with some of the best rugby I’ve ever witnessed.’
In 2020, you suffered an ankle injury. Can you talk about that challenge mentally and physically?
‘It was at the beginning of 2020 Six Nations. As soon as [it happened] I knew it was bad. My boot got stuck in the ground – something had to give way and it was my ankle – it needed reconstruction.
‘We were playing Worcester away and it was quite a frosty morning. I’m still not 100% sure whether the pitch was playable, but the referee in the club deemed it [to be]. But then Covid hit, so the girls never finished that [championship].
‘My partner at the time was just falling pregnant with [my son] Oliver. We had a scare one evening and had to take him to hospital. So I forgot about the ankle injury and that’s the first time my mentality switched and rugby wasn’t the be all and end all.
‘I was self-rehabbing at home, keeping myself fit and ticking over.’
What’s it been like juggling being a mother to Oliver with your decorated professional rugby career?
‘Absolutely amazing. It’s definitely changed my outlook on life. It’s made me a better person and rugby player. I don’t see it as a juggling act. I want to be the best openside flanker in the world, the best version of myself and the best mother.’
‘Oliver understands Mummy’s going to work. At the Twickenham match, there was one of those cameras on four wheels that goes up and down the pitch – he just couldn’t believe it. And he’s got 30 other aunties – the girls love it when he comes into camp as he’s a breath of fresh air.
‘Everybody sees me as quite a fiery rugby player with a nasty streak. On the pitch I put my body on the line for my teammates, but off the pitch my softer side has definitely come out because of Oliver.’
What do you attribute your incredible success to besides hard work and being naturally gifted?
‘I just love what I’m doing and enjoy playing rugby. I can’t put it into words. Over the years, it’s about evolving with the game. I started when rugby wasn’t professional and you had to have a job alongside it, whereas it’s totally different now. I’m also getting older – I might not run the 1200 the fastest, but I’m [still] going to win.’
What would you consider your proudest achievement?
‘Winning the 2014 World Cup was very special. When I got selected into the Sevens programme in 2013, I was the ‘wild card’ player, but actually, I was really good. So I even surprised myself. It’s also amazing to be able to say that I’ve travelled the world.
‘The accolades that you pick up are products of the team that you play with. When I got my 100th cap, it was about over a decade’s worth of players who all brought something different and left their own mark.’
What’s it like being captain of the England team and your club Saracens?
‘It’s definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone and I feel very lucky. I’m a good people person – I can read when people aren’t quite themselves.
‘I’m not the most organised but suddenly I’m having to be in meetings and be prompt. When you give out new caps, you get to find information out about players. Staff and players are picking chats with you – I never knew Sarah Hunter, [former Red Roses captain] took on all this!’
What are your hopes for the future of women’s rugby and sport at large?
‘Women’s sports are on the massive rise. There’ve been some real low points [for me]: injuries, my dad passing away – if people can see that [I’m just a] normal person, [they’ll be inspired] to keep working hard themselves.
‘I want to inspire future generations to pick up the ball and play the sport I love because it’s given me so much, but even if you’re 30, 40, 50 years old, and you want to go down to your local rugby club and sign up to a team, do that because rugby friends are so special.
‘Grassroots is so special in all sports – I started at grassroots rugby: a friend of a friend from school took me and it wasn’t for them, I might not be here today – rugby wasn’t in my family.’