England captain Zoe Aldcroft has been ruled out of the rest of the pool stage of the Women's Rugby World Cup with a knee injury, it was announced Thursday.
The 28-year-old was injured midway through the first half of tournament favourites England's opening 69-7 rout of the United States in Sunderland last Friday and had her knee heavily strapped before she eventually left the field on the hour mark.
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It was always likely that Aldcroft would have been rotated for Saturday's game against Samoa in Northampton, but she will now miss the hosts' final Pool A match against Australia on September 6 as well.
Aldcroft was one of 13 changes to the starting 15 announced Thursday by coach John Mitchell, with wing Jess Breach and centre Megan Jones -- a member of England's leadership group -- the only two players to retain their places.
Former skipper Marlie Packer takes over as captain, with first-choice backs Natasha Hunt, Zoe Harrison and Ellie Kildunne on the bench.
Packer, a 111-cap flanker, has not played since being sent off in a World Cup warm-up win over Spain, where she again led the side in Aldcroft's absence.
"Megan and I have massively stepped up this week," Packer said.
"We've been there to support Zoe in whatever she needs, but she's also been doing the same for us in training."
Emily Scarratt, who won her 119th cap off the bench against the United States, was due to start against Samoa but was withdrawn from the team because of a shoulder-related nerve issue.
Claudia Moloney-MacDonald (left wing) and Helena Rowland (fly-half) start after returning from injury, but fly-half Holly Aitchison remains sidelined with an ankle problem.
Rowland's availability is a particular boost to England given she also covers centre, full-back and scrum-half.
"Helena knows that she is the most versatile person within the group. She's highly valued and is the first name on the team sheet in terms of 23," Mitchell said.
The Red Roses are on a 28-game winning run, with their last defeat coming in the Covid-delayed 2022 World Cup final where they suffered an agonising loss to New Zealand in Auckland.
Samoa were beaten 73-0 by Australia in their Pool A opener.
England -- who fielded two different teams across this year's Women's Six Nations and still won a fourth consecutive Grand Slam -- could now inflict another heavy defeat upon the Pacific islanders.
