Elis Martin and the other Scotland replacements are ready to bring “energy” off the bench to hopefully help their team secure a victory over Italy on Sunday in this era of 23-player rugby.
The Scots host Italy looking to make it two wins from three in this year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
Despite Italy being winless in the competition so far, Scotland know it will be a tough game and as such 25-year-old hooker Martin, props Leah Bartlett and Molly Poolman, second-row Adelle Ferrie, back-rowers Alex Stewart and Jade Konkel and backs Caity Mattinson and Lucia Scott will likely have an important role to play at some point at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh.
Having won 15 of her 17 caps to date from the bench, Loughborough Lightning player Martin knows more than most just how important replacements can be in a game and she said: “I think quite a lot of people have an interesting perception of being on the bench, but I actually really enjoy it.
“I think that one of my strengths as a player is coming on and bringing energy, but not bringing chaos because that is so easy to do, to come on and just be frantic.
“You’ve got all this energy and you can just try and get it out, but actually what you need to do is come on and bring energy, but be controlled and make hits, carry hard and help out the players who have been on since the start.
“When you come on it is important to tell the players who have been on since the start to breathe and you really just try and bring something extra to what they have already been doing – being on the bench and coming on is a a really important role.
“As a front-row replacement you can be coming on after 50 minutes and you’ve still got 30 minutes of the game left, so that is a long period of time and it’s important that you bring something to the team.
I take the role quite seriously and I actually really enjoy coming off the bench. As a hooker the first lineout after you come on is important to settle you down and then you can focus on the rest of the game.”
Scotland squad to play Italy: Chloe Rollie; Rhona Lloyd, Emma Orr, Lisa Thomson, Francesca McGhie; Helen Nelson, Leia Brebner-Holden; Anne Young, Lana Skeldon, Elliann Clarke, Becky Boyd, Sarah Bonar, Rachel Malcolm (C), Rachel McLachlan, Evie Gallagher. Subs: Elis Martin, Leah Bartlett, Molly Poolman, Adelle Ferrie, Alex Stewart, Jade Konkel, Caity Mattinson, Lucia Scott.
The Guinness Women’s Six Nations runs from March 22 to April 26 and, next up, Scotland are at Hive Stadium in round three versus Italy on April 13 – get tickets for the two Scotland remaining home games here.
Elis Martin is pictured with fellow replacement Alex Stewart after the recent Wales game
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