'Still light at the end of the tunnel’ – John Mitchell on Poppy Cleall's England future

England coach John Mitchell says Poppy Cleall has “every opportunity” to play at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 but must rise to the physical challenge of the modern game.

Saracens number eight Cleall, 32, was omitted from the Red Roses squad for WXV 1 on Thursday but remains committed to regaining her place ahead of the showpiece tournament in England next year and adding to her 66 caps.

With only 30 players selected for England’s title defence in Canada, as opposed to the 32 who will form the group for the World Cup, Mitchell admitted Cleall had been squeezed out.

“If it was 32 for your World Cup squad, you’d take six back-rowers. It’s as simple as that,” Mitchell said. “Poppy is obviously a six and an eight in our mix.

“The game is getting quicker and it’s definitely challenging her physical demand to play the game we want to play.

“She’s got every opportunity still of making the World Cup squad, she’s just going to have to work harder physically.”

Asked about conversations he has had with Cleall, Mitchell added: “I’ve said that there’s still light at the end of the tunnel for her to make it [for the World Cup].

“She’s under no illusions of what’s required. Physically, the game’s getting quicker, so she’s going to have to meet that demand.

“When you’re an impact player, we can’t afford that player to be a plodder. That player has got to be lifting the tempo of the game.

“At the moment, I’m just marking a couple of No. 8s ahead of her, which is a difficult thing because she’s chasing, I guess.

“That’s the challenge for her. I think we’ve been as clear as we can be; the rest is up to Pops. She’s a good person, still a good rugby player.

“At the end of the day, it’s one person’s opinion – my opinion – and that’s all she needs to understand.”

England will open their WXV 1 campaign against USA in Vancouver on September 29th before a rematch with New Zealand and a finale against hosts Canada.

Mitchell is supportive of the three-tiered competition and is hopeful that the matches in Canada will be well attended, saying that his players “don’t deserve to play in front of non-crowds”.

The Red Roses’ warm-up matches against France and the Black Ferns were played in front of almost 50,000 fans combined at Kingsholm and Allianz Stadium, and Mitchell believes unions have a responsibility to grow the numbers watching the women’s game.

“I like the concept,” he said of WXV. “I really like the concept that it goes on rankings because I think [in] WXV 3 and WXV 2, they’re competing against teams, I guess where they’ve got the opportunity to win and perform well.

“I guess if they played New Zealand, France, Canada and ourselves, even though it’s a great experience for them, it’s probably important for them to gain confidence.

“So, you’ve seen examples of last year’s tournament giving probably Scotland confidence, Ireland have obviously grown through that as well. But more importantly I would like to think that we’ve got a responsibility to make sure that we’re playing in front of crowds, and you know, France and England do that the best.

“So, to me, the girls don’t deserve, well certainly the Red Roses don’t deserve to play in front of non-crowds because, you know, they present a good product. So, hopefully the games are supported well.”