England Injury Worries + Ellie Kildunne’s Powerful Story | Women’s Six Nations

England Injury Worries + Ellie Kildunne’s Powerful Story | Women’s Six Nations

April 16, 2026 · 29 min · Episode 168

About this episode

The episode discusses England's injury concerns ahead of their match against Scotland in the Women’s Six Nations and features Ellie Kildunne's insights on body dysmorphia in rugby.

In this week’s episode of The Rugby Paper Roundup… Assistant Editor Ben Jaycock is joined by journalist Sarah Rendell to break down a huge second round of the Women’s Six Nations — with England heading to Murrayfield under mounting selection pressure. After a record-breaking opening weekend that saw over 77,000 fans pack into Twickenham, attention now turns to how the Red Roses respond to a growing injury list. Hannah Botterman and May Campbell are out of the tournament, Alex Matthews misses Scotland through injury, and England had already lost key names including Rosie Galligan, Abbie Ward and captain Zoe Stratford. Yet, despite those setbacks, England continue to call on the depth of talent coming through the PWR — with Delaney Burns and Liz Crake drafted in. We ask whether this is disruption, or a timely test ahead of the World Cup. We also discuss Ellie Kildunne’s powerful decision to speak openly about body dysmorphia and the pressures of being one of rugby’s most recognisable faces — and what that says about the changing landscape of the women’s game. With Kildunne also part of rugby’s first ever Twickenham tifo, we explore whether rugby is finally starting to build genuine…

People in this episode

Host: Ben Jaycock

Guest: Sarah Rendell

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Women’s Six Nations

Places: Murrayfield, Twickenham, Cardiff Arms Park, Dexcom Stadium, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy

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