As she wandered back into the dressing room of the house, her young son led the road, her new fiancé and the evening sun on her back, Marli Packer had a smile on her face.
But it was probably not as broad as it could.
For an hour of England’s 97–7 victory over Spain, Packer was everywhere. Killing lines and opponents, cantering in the open and hard work in tight.
After the match, head coach John Mitchell described his performance as “excellent”, saying: “This is the way she plays the game and when you see her playing, she is on fire.”
Packer said on the eve of the match that the game was very meant.
It is not necessary that opponents or platform.
England will play against better teams than an excluded Spain and in front of a larger crowd than 5,286, who filled a stand in Wellford Road.
But being reinstated for captaincy, for one afternoon in the absence of Zo Aldcroft, a house was on the verge of the World Cup, there was a big moment for one of the four remaining people – Emily Scarts, Alex Matthews and Natasha Hunt – England’s success in the 2014 tournament – from the success of England.
Claudia Pena’s clearout, which was at the early end of Packer’s afternoon, was clumsy rather than malicious.
However, beating the foot of the Spanish full-back, a large screen vision of his shoulder was a video dirty that the referee Oreli Groizelou could not eventually ignore. He showed red.
