Marlie Packer column: Maddie Feaunati's England breakthrough is a huge moment for women's rugby

Maddie Feaunati will make her full debut for England in Saturday’s Test match against France in Gloucester.

All of us in the Red Roses camp are extremely excited about two massive games ahead, with New Zealand visiting Twickenham next weekend.

These are two of the toughest fixtures in world rugby, but will also act as warm-up matches for WXV 1, where we will take on the best Test teams again, in Canada, at the end of this month and into October.

The daughter of former Samoa and Bath back-row forward Isaac ‘Zak’ Feaunati, Maddie has really shone in pre-season.

She is an extremely powerful, dynamic ball-carrier, great craic and a good person, and it’s very exciting to see her really taking her chance now.

Seeing the daughter of a top men’s star breaking through represents a big moment for the women’s game. Maddie has told us how the first women’s match she went to was when she was little, and her dad took her to watch Bath Ladies. Well, I was playing in that game and so was Natasha Hunt, and Maddie must have been about five or six.

Once we had got over the amusement of the generational cycle, it got us to thinking about how it is not insignificant that Maddie is a full Test player now, having grown up with such strong family support in rugby.

Marlie Packer

Saracens’ men’s players come and watch our women’s matches when their schedules allow, and I know the same thing happens at the other clubs regularly now too.

And Maddie is a fully-fledged Red Rose because of her family’s influence not just in the round, but also in the smaller details like her dad taking her to women’s matches when she was little.

Her first memory of women’s rugby has helped inspire her to a senior career with Exeter and England and now she is the one inspiring the future generations, and not just girls but boys as well.

Lilli Ives Campion will win her first cap off the bench, and that represents another exciting breakthrough for her and us.

The Loughborough Lightning lock has captained the Under-20s and now has the chance to step up, and again, it is fully deserved.

Our strength in depth is a real boost to us all. We are without several world-class players because of injury, and everyone always feels it deeply when anyone is injured.

But we also all know that is part of the sport, and we back the quality running through our squad and beyond to make sure we can continue to set the highest standards.

To be playing France and then New Zealand in consecutive weeks and outside one of the big competitions is hugely exciting for all of us, and will be one of the biggest challenges we could face.

The fact that the very best teams in the world are all looking for more matches against each other, to test and improve themselves, speaks volumes about the strength of the women’s game, and its determination to keep developing.

Credit must go to the RFU and to the unions in France and New Zealand for working hard to make sure fixtures like this can be staged.

Hosting the World Cup next year means 2025 will be one of the biggest years of our lives. There is so much rugby to be played between now and then, however, and it is vital that we remain focused on our daily challenges.

We have been clear on our goals and the fact we want to go all the way at the World Cup, but getting there has to be one step at a time, no matter how cliched that is.

Even in a game like Saturday against France, there is no choice but to focus on the now: the first 10 minutes, the next 10, pushing towards half-time, then making any tweaks at the break and going again.

Kingsholm is a great stadium and has been rocking whenever we have been there before, and we cannot wait to be there again on Saturday.

Playing France, who are so tough, it might not be the prettiest, but the battle will definitely show us where we are in terms of our development, and in the wider context of the year ahead.