Scotland head coach Sione Fukofuka has backed Emily Coubrough, Shona Campbell and Coreen Grant to make an impact on Sunday at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in the Women’s Six Nations round five match versus Ireland (2.30pm live on BBC iPlayer).
It has been an up and down campaign for the Scots as they go into the last outing fifth in the standings, but for No.8 Coubrough and winger Campbell it has been a really positive few weeks.
Coubrough (Edinburgh University and Glasow Warriors) has already started twice and come off the bench once in the tournament having made her Scotland debut against Wales and scored her first international try against France all while aged just 19.
And 24-year-old Campbell (Sale Sharks) has started three games and come off the bench in one to take her cap tally up to 13 following time out of the squad while on GB Sevens duties. She scored her first international try against Wales.
They will both be starting this game, Coubrough coming into a reshaped back-row in place of Holland Bogan (bench) and Campbell replacing Francesca McGhie (injury).
And Harlequins winger Coreen Grant has been added to the bench and could make her first appearance of the campaign if she gets on.
The 28-year-old has not played for her country for a while due to injuries and competition for places, but has served the national team well before when called up in 17 caps to date.
“These three players have all been great around camp during this tournament,” the head coach said.
“I think the first week [versus Wales] it was probably a good thing that Emily was so inexperienced because she just took everything in her stride.
“She had a concussion after the England game and it was a little bit of a baptism of fire in just her second game. It’s a big English pack and she got a taste of what top tier international rugby is like, but, over the last two weeks rehabbing back from the concussion and then coming on versus France, she’s been excellent.
“We feel that she had real impact coming off the bench last week and now it’s an opportunity for her to get another start.
“Shona’s been great and, to be fair, she was probably a little bit unlucky to not start against France.
“She was playing really well going into that one, but we just felt that Fran [McGhie] and Rhona [Lloyd] were a little bit more physical so we wanted to inject Shona at the back end of the game off the bench.
“But she’s been brilliant, she’s taken her opportunities and has worked so hard. The footwork and speed that she has is a threat so we are looking forward to giving her more opportunities this week. We’ll do our best to unlock the edges a little bit more and then play off the back of that.
“And, in terms of Coreen, well she’s been brilliant within the group.
“We talked this week about our theme for the week being ‘all in’. It’s our last week together for the Six Nations as a group and as a team and Coreen epitomises the ‘all in’ idea.
“Since the start of this campaign she’s been a fantastic team mate and, even though disappointed not to have been selected previously, she has done everything she could to prepare the team. We are really happy that Coreen gets her opportunity and when she does get on the field we have no doubts that she’ll go out there and perform.”
On McGhie’s injury, the head coach said that she “pulled up with a little bit of soreness after the France game” while back-row Alex Stewart was available for selection after a head injury, but Fukofuka wanted to go with “a slightly bigger back-row for this week”.
The teams will be playing for the Siobhan Cattigan Trophy for the first time with a crowd of over 30,000 set to be in attendance.
- Elsewhere on the final day of the tournament, sixth placed Wales host fourth placed Italy in Cardiff at 12.15pm and then, at 4.45pm UK time, France and England play in the title and Grand Slam decider in Bordeaux.
Emily Coubrough, Shona Campbell and Coreen Grant are pictured
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