Marlie Packer column: England must maximise World Cup prep time as Six Nations finale looms

There are just two weeks left of this Six Nations campaign — and fewer than 500 days until the World Cup starts right here in England.

I am on the bench when we face Scotland on Saturday at a sold-out Hive Stadium in Edinburgh, with everyone hugely proud that Zoe Aldcroft will captain the Red Roses.

Of course, everyone wants to play every minute of every Test match, but what we are trying to achieve simply has to be about the bigger picture.

We have talked this week about how close we are to next year’s World Cup. In 15 days, this competition will be over, so I am fully focused on what I can do to maximise that time.

It all goes by in a flash, so we have to enjoy it, as well as squeeze every scrap of progress out of it, too.

We call our subs ‘the Super Eight’, so it’s about making the biggest possible impact as a group, and this week that includes me.

We want a very fast, dynamic pack to take on Scotland, with Rosie Galligan and Abbie Ward at lock, then Zoe, Alex Matthews and Sadia Kabeya in the back-row.

Scotland like to keep 15 players on their feet, so we have to play with pace and tempo and be direct.

Last week, we trained very hard in the fallow week, but we also invested in what we like to call social capital.

That took the shape of a darts evening, which went down really well. Maud Muir really stood out with her arrows technique and just her whole aura.

Coach John ‘Mitch’ Mitchell rocked up with an orange Mohican, and everyone had darts nicknames on the back of their special shirts. We had walk-on songs and everyone embraced it, which was class.

We have different colour teams for games we play before training, so we stuck to those teams and colours.

The bonds you form are everything. We have made the absolute most of the prep, so now it is time to rip into a huge occasion of a Test match.

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