Amy Cokayne: 'I’m probably someone that’s there to set the standard'

Across the Guinness Women’s Six Nations – amongst the omission of stalwart starters either through injury or pregnancy and several promising new debuts – there was an implied sense the Women’s Rugby World Cup generation should pass the torch on and England must evolve into a new phase.

The Red Roses’ most capped player in the squad, Marlie Packer, threw down the gauntlet and fought her way back into a starting shirt proving that in a champion team, experience cannot be overlooked. Yet, equally as striking, but criminally under the radar, was the standout performances of hooker, Amy Cokayne.

Another tenured Red Rose, with 89 caps and three Women’s Rugby World Cups under her belt, the 29-year old Sale Sharks forward started and scored in every match. This included a brace against Italy and the decisive final try against France to seal a fifth Grand Slam in a row.

Despite the absence of Lark Atkin-Davies – along with the myriad of second row pregnancies and injuries – Cokayne quietly maintained England’s integrity at the set piece, while also delivering offloads and staggering 20-metre passes.

Surely with all the resultant press around Packer, with calls for a British & Irish Lions Women’s shirt in the inaugural tour next year, similar conversations should also be taking place for Cokayne?

Cokayne herself was unsure of her position heading into the Women’s Six Nations, but her experience cleared was drawn upon with her appointment as vice-captain.

“I wasn’t really too sure whether [John] Mitchell was going to go down the route of playing his senior players or try and bed in a lot of young people,” Cokayne told RugbyPass. “I think the context of the Six Nations happened, and they ended up having to do both.

“I was excited to get the opportunity. It was different as well having so many new people in camp. I think you take it all for granted the stuff we all know because we’ve been in it so long.”

Though she added, smiling throughout, that there is a strong element of leadership attached to her role with the Red Roses this year.

“I’m not that kind of an empathetic leader and someone you go to when you’re having a bad day,” she said. “I’m probably someone that’s there more to kind of set the standard. That was sort of the balance we had.

“Especially at the start when it was me, Megan and Alex who were captain and vice-captains, it was very much, Alex is the one you go to if you want to have a cry, and I would be the one that was probably going to have to tell you that you were doing something wrong or something [like that].”

Part of the intrigue of Cokayne’s performances was the desire to keep the ball moving, whether feeding it out to the backs or linking with other forwards. Perhaps we have have come to understand England as quite prescriptive in their forward dominance, but Cokayne’s style invoked a flair of previous England teams.

“I always joke saying that the hooker is the most skilful person on the park, but I do genuinely believe that we have a good skill set. And I back myself to pass or kick these days. Do whatever needs to be done.

“Like I remember I did that pass against Scotland off an overthrow and everyone was like ‘wow’ but I’ve literally been doing that in training.

“Then I joked with them about kicking it off an overthrow and getting a 50:22, but obviously I didn’t do that in an England shirt, but now I’ve done it in a Sale shirt so I’ll see if they let me do it instead of just passing.

“I think back in the day hookers were scrum and lineout and then it went, ‘now you need to jackal’. Now you’re going to be able to do that as a normal part of your skillset. It’s just pushing what the norm is.”

Whether Cokayne saw her seniority as an advantage, she commented: “I do think the experience can be taken for granted. I’m very much of the mindset of the ‘best team should always play’, but obviously that’s not always the case.

“There was a lot of calls from the media before being like ‘you have to create more depth or blood new people and almost just throw away your old people because they’ve already done it’ or whatever.

“I think you can’t take experience for granted and I think that was probably shown by Marlie Packer and those two player of the match performances. I don’t think anyone would have that before the tour was going to happen.”

Whether Cokayne thought she deserved a spot on the tour, she gave a characteristically humble response.

“Deserve is probably a tricky one to say yes to,” she said. “Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald played amazing for Ireland, so why would I deserve it more than her?

“But I think the whole Lion’s thing will be super interesting and I don’t envy Jo [Yapp, British & Irish Lions Women’s head coach] having that decision.

“I would obviously love to go on a Lions tour. Whether that happens or not, I’m not sure.”

With PWR transfer announcements in full swing, Sale Sharks’ recent blockbuster signings are a huge statement of intent for the 2026/27 season.

Last month the North West club announced that Zoe Stratford, Tatyana Heard and Sarah Beckett would call Morson Stadium home next term.

Once again, Cokayne has quietly been at the forefront of the growth of the northern rugby powerhouse, after she came on board this season alongside northerner Holly Aitchison.

“Super excited to get the signings,” Cokayne said. “It’s super cool they are all northern too.

“We always talk northern rugby matters, and I think people think we’re joking a little bit when we say it but I think it’s super important especially being the only northern team and very much north west. It’s great the club are just backing that making something really successful.

“We were almost ahead of the curve ourselves this year. If you had told us that we were going to get some of the results that we got, we probably would have laughed a little bit. When me and Holly went there and loads of other people, it was very much starting from ground zero.

“The league is only going to get more competitive. I think the movement that’s happening is kind of crazy as well, it almost feels like a new era.

Big games call for big players, and whilst Cokayne is modest, she was a key force is stabilising England’s scrum and lineout this year.

She has battled the Black Ferns on their home turf before, and perhaps her brand of forward link play rugby rooted in an upbringing in New Zealand is the flair that’s needed to take them on at the WXV Global Series in September.