Scotland women’s rugby full-back Chloe Rollie has pressed the reset button after an up and down 2023/24 for her personally and now she is ready to thrive on Friday night in the season opening Test versus Wales.
Borderer Rollie, now 29, has been in and around the Scotland set up since 2015 and has amassed 65 caps and 20 tries in a stellar career at the top level to date.
However, she headed into the Guinness Women’s Six Nations earlier this year off the back of an injury and was on the bench for the first two games against Wales and France.
She then started against England and Italy before being red carded in the latter which meant missing the Ireland game.
Ankle surgery and a move of club to Ealing Trailfinders came in the summer and now Rollie is ready to hit the ground running and show everyone what she is about in game one of the Vodafone Series at Hive Stadium in a couple of days.
“My whole season last season I describe as a rollercoaster,” she said.
“There were moments that were really good and then there were moments that were pretty bad whether that was injury or selection or getting the red card in the Six Nations.
“The summer was like a reset for me, I got ankle surgery and that was the moment where I was like ‘cool, now I’ll reset and refocus and look to get better as a player and put that all behind me’.
“This is a new season as a player and if you don’t reset or look for that fresh start then you will just build up baggage and it will drag you down.
“I know what I am capable of and what I can bring to the team so I just have to focus on that with a clear mind.
“We have had a great pre-season block and now as a Scotland squad we can’t wait to get going as the build up to next year’s World Cup begins.”
Back in 2017 Scotland beat Wales 15-14 at Broadwood to give them their first Six Nations win since 2010.
It was a breakthrough moment for newish players like Rollie at the time and there is a picture of her from that night jumping about 10 feet in the air at the final whistle.
“It seems like a different time because we got two wins in that season [going on to defeat Italy too] and it was something pretty unique while now we are winning more games, it is still a really nice memory to look back on, but it also seems like a long time ago,” she said.
“We still remember it being our first win for Scotland and that is very special, but things have moved on so much now and we are such a consistent squad, we are an improving team as every season goes by and we are showing the fans and supporters what we are all about.
“There is consistency in what we are doing and I think we can continue to keep improving.”
With consistency comes clarity and clarity in attack is something the squad worked hard on during the recent four-week pre-season block.
“It has been really good, we really have focused on attack and how we want to play and it is almost like a case of more freedom, but also being better at knowing when to pull the trigger or not to pull the trigger,” Rollie, who is now in the top 10 list of all-time capped Scottish female players, stated.
“There are times in the game where opportunities are there to be taken and other times where they maybe aren’t there and you have to recycle or reset and as a squad we are getting more clarity on that.
“We are understanding better as a team and as individuals how to approach those moments in a game, like is this an opportunity to kick or is this an opportunity to play or what do we need to do at tht moment so I think in attack it is definitely getting better and we have more clarity around it.”
The Scotland matchday 23 to face Wales will be named on Wednesday.
Scotland women’s squad for the Vodafone Series and WXV 2 (uncapped in bold plus Louise McMillan (Saracens) in for the Vodafone Series)
Forwards
Leah Bartlett (Leicester Tigers)
Christine Belisle (Loughborough Lightning)
Sarah Bonar (Harlequins)
Elliann Clarke (Bristol Bears)
Lisa Cockburn (Gloucester Hartpury)
Eva Donaldson (Leicester Tigers)
Evie Gallagher (Bristol Bears)
Jade Konkel (Harlequins)
Rachel Malcolm (Loughborough Lightning)
Elis Martin (Loughborough Lightning)
Fiona McIntosh (Saracens)
Rachel McLachlan (Montpellier)
Lana Skeldon (Bristol Bears)
Aila Ronald (University of Edinburgh)
Alex Stewart (Corstorphine Cougars)
Emma Wassell (Loughborough Lightning)
Anne Young (Loughborough Lightning)
Backs
Leia Brebner-Holden (Gloucester-Hartpury/Cheltenham Tigers)
Coreen Grant (Saracens)
Caity Mattinson (Ealing Trailfinders)
Mairi McDonald (Exeter Chiefs)
Francesca McGhie (Leicester Tigers)
Rhona Lloyd (GB 7s/ Stade Bordelais)
Helen Nelson (Loughborough Lightning)
Emma Orr (Bristol Bears)
Rachel Philipps (Sale Sharks)
Lisa Thomson (GB 7s/Ealing Trailfinders)
Chloe Rollie (Ealing Trailfinders)
Lucia Scott (Hartpury University/Gloucester Hartpury)
Meryl Smith (Bristol Bears)
Chloe Rollie is pictured in training recently, thanks to Scottish Rugby/SNS
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