1
{{item.n}}
With Ellie Kildunne in her way, what can England do with Emma Sing?
By Jack Zorab
It began as a trickle of musings at the start of the season but is now a full-on deluge of discussion.
How do England solve an opportunity like Emma Sing?
As the PWR returned to our screens last weekend, we were served with another reminder of the treasure trove of rugby riches that Sing possesses. Read the PWR round 9 roundup (with Sing the headline talking point).
VIDEO
Sing is now a counter-attacking queen, a defensive shield, and a kicking extraordinaire of whom there is no equal in world rugby.
And in Gloucester-Hartpury’s win over Loughborough Lightning – en route to picking up another player of the match award – she put it all on display once again. England head coach John Mitchell was in the crowd to watch it for himself, whilst 2014 World Cup winner Katy Daley-McLean waxed lyrical on TNT Sports about her.
The clamour around Sing at the moment exists because many feel she could (and maybe even should) be given the Red Roses 15 shirt for this year’s Six Nations. The major problem for Sing however is that 2024 World Player of the Year Ellie Kildunne also plays full-back for England. And she does that rather well.
In fact, Kildunne does that better than any England player has ever done before. “It’s like she is made of magic,” said the BBC’s Sara Orchard in the World Cup final, and it really is.
The pragmatists will tell you that it’s a two-way shoot-out between Kildunne and Sing to start at full-back for England this Six Nations. Whilst the dreamers will say there’s a world in which they can both start in England’s back three, as mused by Joe Harvey in his recent opinion piece.
Whatever the answer, it’s a very important question for Mitchell to get right. Not in this year’s Six Nations, or even in the next. England are almost certainly going to cruise to another Six Nations title this spring whoever they pick at full-back. And they’ll probably do it next season too.
However, by the time of the next World Cup in Australia in 2029 – which will fall under Mitchell’s tenure as England coach – the rest of the world will have closed the gap. They might not have caught up with the Red Roses completely but the likes of New Zealand, Canada, France, Ireland and even Australia should be in a place to catch England out if they have an off-night. That should be their aim at least.
And amidst intensifying competition for their crown, England may at some point have a real need for an 80%+ goal-kicker. And that’s Sing. Right now, England have no need for that. There just isn’t the competition. But at some point it will come.
And when it does. Let’s say on a torrential night in Sydney for a World Cup semi-final against France, they’ll want to have a keyed-in Sing to call upon, not a Sing who’s only played 20 minutes here and there for the past four years, with the occasional start thrown-in as a sweetener.
Mitchell is a shrewd operator and a master of forging squad cohesion – in a way that his predecessor Simon Middleton wasn’t – and he will know just how important it is for Sing to feel like she’s a front-line option, even if Kildunne is still ultimately the preferred option.
And the only way for Sing to feel that she is genuinely valued is for Mitchell to select her regularly at full-back, or at least as regularly as he plays Kildunne. Time in the shirt is worth its weight in gold and Sing is still very short of time on the field in matches that matter.
She started the Six Nations decider vs France last season and looked to the manor born for 20 minutes, before a shaky half-hour ensued as France came roaring back into it. She will have learned a lot. And the needs to be involved in more occasions such as those over the next four years. Given England’s dominance, there may only be one or two matches a season in which England are stress-tested.
She may be the preferred option to Kildunne. As unthinkable as that is for those of us with September 2025 still fresh in our minds. Not because she has suddenly acquired this level of performance (she’s been at it for a while) but because her consistency.
It’s worth bearing in mind how we got here- proficiency as a goal kicker, and of her increasingly impressive all-round game.
And luckily there’s not a lot of time to wait to see a head-to-head of Kildunne vs Sing (if both players are selected and fit), as Gloucester-Hartpury continue their PWR title defence in round 11 on Saturday 14th February 2026 against Harlequins at Kingsholm. Who’s your pick?
We've ranked the best women's rugby players in the world, from 50 - 1! View the Top 50 now
