High praise for Zoe Aldcroft by her head coach...

Former player Jodie Ounsley - who you may know better as Fury from BBC TV show Gladiators - spoke with the new Red Roses captain before the start of England's Women's Six Nations campaign.

BBC Two

Speaking to BBC Two, England head coach John Mitchell said: "Its important to be excited by the World Cup but this tournament is very important to us so we respect it and it's a great opportunity to get 2025 started.

"We have 13 Test matches in which we have to earn the right on to go all the way so it's important to back the squad and give them all purpose and get them excited about going forward.

"I want to see us build pressure on the opposition so you will see some evolvement from our game from last year. We will bring a bit more balance and then I want to see us come through some difficult periods as well.

"I think you will see a bit more kicking, and when it's time to find grass, we will do that.

"The girls are excited about our evolvement and we will ask a lot of questions of the opposition.

"Zoe [Aldcroft] leads by example, she is not a lady of a lot of words but she backs it with her performances. She is backed well by the wider group and they all have roles to play."

Katy Daley-Mclean
Former England captain on BBC Two

Alyssa D'Inca is the x-factor in italy and she is a real challenge. Italy play in a way that it is high-risk, high-reward. If Italy are to go well today she has to perform.

Simon Middleton
Former England Women head coach on BBC Two

I think Fabio Roselli will be wanting to look at individuals as well as a collective effort. They have a brilliant back and a lot of experience in there. He will be wanting it to be really competitive.

Maggie Alphonsi
2014 England World Cup winner on BBC Two

The weight of expectation is huge and England are hosting the World Cup. The pressure is on them is to deliver and it all starts from here. This Six Nations is really important to them.

Image source, Getty Images

Claudia MacDonald starts on the wing for England today - she missed most of 2024 with a second serious neck injury, which she said left her "terrified" to be near anything rugby-related in the early stages of her recovery.

MacDonald missed last year's Six Nations because of the injury and only returned to action in December.

"I made a tackle and the next second I was on the floor not able to move my arms or legs so it was pretty scary in the first few moments," said Exeter Chiefs' MacDonald.

"In the first couple of months, playing wasn't even on the radar - it was about trying to get my mind around what had happened.

"I was terrified to be anywhere near a rugby pitch or a rugby ball. I didn't want to have my back away from the wall as I didn't want anything behind me because I was scared of being knocked.

"I barely left my house and I was told not to go in a car so it was all quite scary, but thankfully we got past all of that."

Read more here.

Alastair Telfer
BBC Sport at LNER Community Stadium, York

The game at LNER Community Stadium is a sell-out, so we can expect around the 8,500 capacity.

The stadium is owned by City of York Council.

York City Football Club, who are in the National League, play here and they share the ground with Championship rugby league side York Knights.

It is filling out nicely.

Speaking to BBC Two, Italy head coach Fabio Roselli said: "We are excited about the start of our [Six Nations] journey and we have prepared for that.

"We expect to preform in the areas we have practised in the past week. We want a strong defence and to compete in the collision."

France, meanwhile, began their Six Nations with a 27-15 win over Ireland in Belfast despite a 20-minute red card for Gabrielle Vernier.

The highlights of that one are below...

The tournament got under way on Saturday as Scotland edged a thriller with Wales to kickstart their campaign.

If you missed that one, you can watch the highlights below. Wales fans might want to look away now...

Alastair Telfer
BBC Sport at LNER Community Stadium, York

The beauty of the Red Roses is that they attract new fans from all over England because of playing in different venues.

A big crew from Ossett RFC in Wakefield have travelled to York for their first England game.

This is the first England women's game in the north since the 2023 Six Nations opener against Scotland in Newcastle, which England won convincingly.

"We all play rugby," Frankie, 10, told BBC Sport. "One of the big reasons for that is the Red Roses, I really want to be like them."

When I asked the seven of them - Sonny, Casey, Oliver, Frankie, Holly, Olivia and Elissa - who will win the Women's Rugby World Cup, which starts in August, the answer was a quick one.

"The Red Roses!"

I was told that was as quiet as they've been after a very noisy and excited journey over.

Image source, Getty Images

England's past three games against Italy in the Women's Six Nations have ended in victories by large margins: 74-0 in 2022, 68-5 in 2023 and 48-0 in 2024.

The Red Roses played most of last year's match in Parma with 14 players after Sarah Beckett's early red card.

Time to whet the appetite a bit then...

To help you get in the mood for this year's Women's Six Nations, watch the video below for some of the best tries from the 2024 edition...

Grace Wheeler
BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Talking of Zoe Aldcroft, let's take a closer look at her story now...

From being the only girl in her first team to becoming the best player in the world, the England skipper has always been a special talent.

Now leading the Test team, the 28-year-old has been tasked with leading England to World Cup glory.

Learn more about Aldcroft's journey to the England captaincy.

Image source, Getty Images

England won the Women's Six Nations in 2019 and have been champions every year since.

Captain Zoe Aldcroft and head coach John Mitchell posed with the trophy at the competition's launch event a couple of weeks ago, and will hope to be reunited with it when the tournament concludes on 26 April.

Here's when the Red Roses will be in action, with all matches live on BBC Sport...

Image source, Getty Images

England: Sing; Venner, Scarratt, Aitchison, MacDonald; Rowland, L Packer; Clifford, Cokayne, Muir, Galligan, Ives Campion, Aldcroft (capt), M Packer, Feaunati.

Replacements: Campbell, Botterman, Bern, Ward, Kabeya, Robinson, Shekells, Kildunne.

Italy: Ostuni Minuzzi; Muzzo, D'Inca, Rigoni, Granzotto; Madia, Stefan (capt); Turani, Gurioli, Seye, Fedrighi, Duca, Veronese, Locatelli, Sgorbini.

Replacements: Vecchini, Stecca, Maris, Tounesi, Franco, Bitonci, Stevanin, Capomaggi.

Image source, Getty Images

England announced the side for their Six Nations opener against Italy on Thursday. The starting XV contained plenty of personnel changes and positional alterations compared with the team that sealed the WXV1 title against Canada in October.

Gloucester-Hartpury winger Mia Venner and Loughborough Lightning lock Lilli Ives Campion will make their first international starts, having previously made one England appearance apiece from the bench.

Venner's club team-mate Jade Shekells - who represented Great Britain in rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics - and Exeter scrum-half Flo Robinson are among the replacements and are poised for their debuts.

Zoe Aldcroft leads the side for the first time since replacing Marlie Packer as captain.

Helena Rowland, who has mainly operated in the midfield in her recent appearances for England, will begin at fly-half, with Holly Aitchison and Emily Scarratt in the centres.

Emma Sing, the PWR's leading point-scorer in 2024-25, gets the nod at full-back, with reigning world player of the year Ellie Kildunne on the bench.

England have reigned supreme in the Women's Six Nations for seven years.

Victory over France on the final day of last year's tournament delivered a third consecutive Grand Slam and they will start the defence of their title as strong favourites to claim the clean sweep once again.

Italy are their first opponents in the 2025 Six Nations and the visitors will have to produce a sparkling performance in York to upset the hosts.

Kick-off is at 15:00 GMT...

Image source, Getty Images