Megan Jones has revealed the one piece of advice that outgoing England captain Zoe Stratford gave her upon taking the reins of the World Cup winners.
Scarborough-born Stratford - nee Aldcroft - had led England through their glorious 2025 in which they won another Six Nations title and finally lifted the World Cup on home soil.
Stratford then announced she was taking time out to start a family, her first child born just three weeks ago.
Red Roses head coach John Mitchell handed the captaincy to fly-half/centre Jones in March and the 29-year-old has upheld the values instilled by Stratford, even though they lost for the first time in 42 games to Canada in Toronto last Friday night.
But Jones still treasures the advice her Yorkshire successor gave her when she relinquished the armband.
“I'll always remember what she said to me when I got given the captaincy,” Jones told The Yorkshire Post, “and that was to not jump on information straight away. Make sure you sit with it first, and then if you need to address it, then you can.
“Which is not in my nature. If I get given a problem, I'll try and solve it. But she told me to take a beat. She said it's quite easy to take all this information in and make a decision straight away. So just sit with the information, instead, then you can make a really clear decision.”
In her nine games with the armband, seven of them victories, how often has Jones had to recall Stratford’s pearl of wisdom?
“Time to time,” she said. “I get checked quite a bit, but that's the point of the leadership group, and I think we're in a really good place where we can be checked and challenged.
“It's not perfect, but you get opportunities to recalibrate that.”
Stratford took her baby daughter to watch her new club side Sale Sharks earlier this month and she has been in contact with the England team during their three-week tour of North America, which forms the second part of the WXV Series.
“I know she'll be eager to get back in the mix,” said Jones.
“Zoe is one of those players that leads by example in everything that she does.
“She's the most consistent player. The way she dominates or approaches each session is admirable. That's something I've always taken from Zoe. Leading first and then helping others as well.”
Canada’s dramatic win in Toronto last week sets up a mouthwatering rematch between the two on Friday night (midnight) in Ottawa.
Jones insists the world champions remain as hungry as ever, 13 months on from scaling the mountain top.
“We're continuously elevating our game,” she said of England’s desire to get back on a winning run.
“There's no one standing still. No one's trying to be comfortable just being here.
“There's always this purpose-driven mentality, which also helps with Mitch being that way as well.
“He gives us a clear goal and he gives us clear things to get after. There are always things that you want to chase as a player. You always want to evolve. That's always naturally inside us.”