John Mitchell happy for England to ‘go route one’ again if conditions demand

England have vowed to continue exploiting their forward dominance if it offers the best route to victory in Saturday’s World Cup semi-final against France at Ashton Gate.

Head coach John Mitchell and prop Hannah Botterman insist the Red Roses will have no hesitation in capitalising on the strength of their maul and scrum after pulverising Scotland in driving rain last weekend.

Of the 38 tries England have scored in their four World Cup matches to date, 22 have been supplied by their all-conquering pack.

Mitchell makes no apologies for the direct approach, declaring “I don’t really care what other people think”, but says his team posses a variety of tools to get the job done.

“We’ve demonstrated over the last three years that we can play any particular way,” said Mitchell ahead of the showdown in Bristol where light showers have been forecast.

“If you look at the conditions that we were exposed to last weekend, it’d be pretty b***** stupid of us to not use that strength and go route one.

“If the conditions continue the way they are, you’re going to see set-piece still being a critical part of the way that we build pressure and create dominance.”

Botterman, restored to the front row after recovering from a back spasm, will be a key cog for England in their pursuit to seize control up front against their Six Nations rivals.

The 26-year-old prop believes the scrum is not given the “kudos that we probably should in that area” and bluntly answered “no” when asked if the Red Roses will deviate from their strengths.

“Everyone understands how important the set-piece is. If we do our job in the scrum, line-out, maul, then the backs understand that that gives them the best platform to play off,” Botterman said.

“If we get a scrum penalty advantage, the backs can do what they like with it out there – likely knock the ball on.”

Botterman is one of four changes to the side that thumped Scotland 40-8 with full-back Ellie Kildunne, fly-half Zoe Harrison and second-row Abbie Ward also given starts.

In a major boost for the Red Roses, World player of the year Kildunne is available after recovering from the concussion that forced her to miss the quarter-final.

“Ellie’s intuitive and can break a game. She’s not a person you hold to structure,” Mitchell said.

“You have got to have an element of structure but the rest is her freedom of decision and she just happens to be an amazing athlete.

“That stride of hers, when she gets into a one-on-one or creates a half a metre of space, she’s very difficult to handle.”

France have lost Axelle Berthoumieu and Manae Feleu to suspension, so Teani Feleu and Hina Ikahehegi are drafted into the pack. Lina Queyroi has been ruled out by concussion so Carla Arbez starts at fly-half.