Helen Nelson is delighted to have Meryl Smith back in the Scotland fold and is excited about the prospect of the two of them potentially lining up in a 10-12-13 combo with Emma Orr during the upcoming Women’s Six Nations.
Scotland are currently preparing for the 2026 competition opener away to Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff this coming Saturday and although experienced heads like Anne Young, Sarah Bonar Evie Gallagher and Lisa Thomson will be missing through injury, playmaker Smith being back for the clash is a big boost.
New head coach Sione Fukofuka will not name his starting XV and subs until Thursday, but with regular inside centre Thomson out it would seem very plausible that Nelson at 10 and Orr at 13 could be joined by Smith at 12.
Smith, now 24 and with 22 caps to her name, suffered a serious ACL knee injury in October 2024 in a defeat to Australia in the WXV 2 competition in South Africa.
A long rehab process meant that she missed the Rugby World Cup in England last year, but she has returned to play for club side Bristol Bears in the PWR in recent times and has hit the ground running.
At the Bears in the last few outings she has often been at 12 with Scotland team mate Orr, who turns 23 today (Monday), at 13 and that combination has worked well.
And it could work well for Scotland in the coming weeks with 75-cap stand-off Nelson, the Loughborough Lightning 31-year-old, stating: “Mez and Emma are both so good.
“In their last game that for the Bears against Quins their link-up in the midfield won the game for Bristol [the Bears won 17-14 on March 28], they were so good together.
“I always enjoy playing alongside Emma and I’m really excited to have Mez back in the fold, you wouldn’t even know she’s been away for so long with injury the way that she’s been playing recently.
“I know it was a tough [when she was injured] and it was probably a longer block of time out than she wanted it to be, but she’s back and I’m really excited to link up with those two again and hopefully we can play some games together.”
The Harlequins match mentioned was part of ‘Bristol Bears’ Big Day Out’ when the women and men’s teams both played ‘home’ games at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
As a quirk of the calendar would have it, Smith and Orr’s next game looks set to be there too and a repeat performance in Scotland colours in a few days’ time would go down very well.
Orr, who has 34 caps, scored two tries in that game and was named player of the match and a strong midfield off 10 is going to be key in round one of Six Nations action.
Helen Nelson, Meryl Smith and Emma Orr are pictured – thanks to Loughborough Lightning and Bristol Bears
The Women’s Six Nations is here and the 2026 event runs from April 11 to May 17 and, between April 6 and May 20, GH Media will be covering Scotland’s campaign and the wider tournament – keep an eye out for content and thanks to everyone who supports GH Media’s work within women’s rugby