Scotland Women vs England Women preview: Can the Scottish pros prove the difference in Six Nations showdown?
Based on recent history, England’s trip to Scotstoun should seem like a relatively straightforward assignment. It should seem like a foregone conclusion that the defending Grand Slam champions and World Cup finalists, and second-highest-ranked side in the women’s game, will make short work of a side ranked 12th, but the story is more complicated.
With England’s totemic captain, and Test centurion, Sarah Hunter sidelined due to a minor calf injury, and classy inside centre Rachael Burford out due to an issue with her knee, the Scots have certainly been dealt a helping hand.
Despite losing their opening fixtures against Wales and France, Scottish women’s rugby appears to be on the up. Last year’s fourth-place finish, after a dismal six-year run of finishing bottom, seemed to signal a renaissance north of the border.
A subplot to the game is that, officially, there are no full-time professionals amongst the ranks of the Red Roses, with the likes of Sevens professionals Emily Scarratt and Natasha Hunt committed fully to the shorter form of the game. Yet the Scots will start with four full-time XVs professionals in Lille-based trio Jade Konkel (No 8), full-back Chloe Rollie and centre Lisa Thomson, plus scrum-half Sarah Law of Edinburgh University and Murrayfield Wanderers.
Scottish players travelling south to play in the Premier15s have also benefited from the RFU’s £2.4 million investment in the league. Four of the starting XV play in England, including captain and fly-half Lisa Martin who will be very familiar with her English opposite number Katy Daley-Mclean as they are club-mates at Darlington Mowden Park Sharks.
Six Nations 2018 | England Women fixtures
Italy 7 England 42
England 52 Wales 0
Scotland v England, Friday, February 23, KO 7:30pm, Sky Sports Mix
France v England, Saturday, March 10, KO 8pm GMT, Sky Sports Action
England v Ireland, Friday, March 16, KO 5:30pm, Sky Sports Action
In the absence of Hunter, Daley-Mclean, who lead England to World Cup glory in 2014, assumes the captaincy and she regards Martin as a key threat for the Scots.
“Lisa generally plays 12 at our club, but she is such a great carrier of the ball, extremely good defensively and has a good kicking game and if you look at the best bits for Scotland, they have come through her,” Daley-Mclean says. “It is hard because you want to see a team-mate do well but ideally, we don’t want her to go so well! She is really influential for that Scotland side and we know we will want to try and close her opportunities to play down.”
One player who could be influential in quelling Martin’s threat is 19 year-old Lagi Tuima, starting at outside centre, who forms a new-look centre partnership with Lauren Cattell. Tuima is the niece of Fiji captain Akapusi Qera and Daley-Mclean believes the youngster, who will be making just her fourth appearance and second Test start for England, can add an extra dimension.
“For Lagi, because her family background is Fijian, that feeds into how she has been brought up to play the game as well. That is something she has brought into her England career, that ability to do the unexpected.
“Lagi is just a couple of caps into her career but very much wants to offload, wants to go and create things and isn’t afraid to go and express herself and just play. For me, it is very different. From playing alongside the likes of Emily Scarratt who was a big, hard-line runner, these girls are very different and probably have a lot more subtle touches to their game.”
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