Holly Aitchison relishing record-breaking fixture to start Six Nations

Holly Aitchison is nervously relishing the next chapter in the Red Roses' trailblazing story as they prepare for the defence of their Guinness Women's Six Nations crown.

The world champions begin their chase for an eighth consecutive Six Nations title against Ireland at Allianz Stadium on Saturday as they return to the scene of their World Cup final triumph over Canada.

A competition record crowd of 75,000 is expected and Aitchison will win her 45th international cap, having been named in the starting XV alongside Sale Sharks teammates Morwenna Talling and Amy Cokayne.

Aitchison said: “I think everyone does feel nervous and I think if you’re nervous it means you care. If I wasn’t nervous it would be weird.

“When there's a big crowd of that magnitude, we're really lucky as an England team that we've had experiences where we deal with crowds of this sort of calibre at the moment. It’s good that we've had a couple of games where we've had these kinds of numbers.

“I just like to try and keep it as chilled as possible. I know that's easier said than done but it's a really great occasion when we've got our fans here.

“It's not like we're travelling, everyone's against you and you're getting booed onto the pitch. Everyone is with you and you really feel that positivity when you're walking out into places like Allianz Stadium.

“After the World Cup final, the Allianz feels like home. We have had a lot of special occasions and pretty much every time we walk out we break the World record."

The former Bristol back has put aside PWR ambitions for the time being, with fifth-placed Sale locked into a close fight for play-off rugby.

The Merseyside-born half-back laughed about rivals becoming allies in international colours, while also emphasising the importance of looking ahead instead of reminiscing.

“We did talk about the play-offs because there was that break where we were coming into camps when matches were still being played”, Aitchison said.

“Once you're in an England camp, everyone's friends anyway, so it's a bit of a laugh and a joke. We don't let it get in the way of England stuff.

“There’s amazing memories of the final but we’re on to a new chapter now. The squad has changed so much and we’re having new conversations about where we’re going next.

“It’s really easy as a sportsperson to have motivation, you’re always onto the next thing and you always have a new goal to strive for.

“We've got a really good focus switch I'd say, where you have that relaxed environment where you can form friendships, build connections - that can only feed into the success of the team.

“We've also got a really big ability to turn it on in the same breath. We pride ourselves on being super professional, so when it's time to go, everyone's switched on and ready.”