As we saw in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations that just finished, the replacements play a huge part in proceedings in any top level rugby game these days – and Scotland head coach Bryan Easson has huge in the bench he has named for the Guinness Women’s Six Nations opener.
The match versus is at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh on Saturday with the competition running until April 26 and the Rugby World Cup to come later in the year in England.
The Scotland starting XV shows three changes from the one that lost to Australia in the WXV 2 ‘final’ back in October with winger Rhona Lloyd, loosehead prop Anne Young and second-row Hollie Cunningham, on debut, coming in.
The bench features six forwards and two backs in a nod to the evolution of this Scotland squad in terms of strength and depth and, from there, Adelle Ferrie could debut and Evie Wills may earn a first cap in three years.
As the Scots have won 12 of their last 16 Tests one of their biggest improvements has been impact from the bench and, against a physical side like Wales, Easson knows he will need the replacements to come on and put in a shift.
“It’s a real 23-player game now,” the head coach said.
“There’s some real talent on the bench and there’s some players with good cap numbers to go to from there in this game.
“Going into this weekend it’s really important that everybody understands their role and their responsibilities whether it be from minute one or minute 40 or more because with replacements you can change the way you want to play or just bring freshness on.
“Alex Stewart was outstanding last year in her first game against Wales, Jade Konkel has played particularly well for Harlequins this year and has done for Scotland for many years and then you look at the front-row experience as well in there – it’s nice to have that and nice to have those options.
“Leah Bartlett and Christine Belisle are props on the bench who have got a huge amount of experience and replacement hooker Elis Martin is one who is growing every time she plays. She’s worked really hard and her throwing is really consistent. To have a front row that you can change in one go if we needed to shows the growth of this group.”
The five replacements Easson mentioned have 167 caps between them while replacement scrum-half Caity Mattinson has 27 caps under her belt.
Two names that supporters will also be delighted to see on the bench and hoping to make an impact are uncapped second-row Adelle Ferrie and playmaker Evie Wills.
Ferrie, the 27-year-old Corstorphine Cougars and Edinburgh Rugby second-row, has clearly impressed in training in recent weeks because she has only been in the national team environment for a few training camps.
Unlike a lot of the players who are now professional, she still has a full-time job, but has earned this chance.
Ferrie grew up on her family’s farm near Whithorn in Dumfries and Galloway and first played rugby at university for Morgan Rugby Club who were affiliated with Abertay University at the time. Spells then came at Howe of Fife and Carlisle Cougars before settling with Corstorphine.
“It’s a brilliant story, she is a player who just picks her battles around what she’s good at, she knows where her strengths lie and she’s worked really hard physically as well,” Easson said about Ferrie.
“I think she’s performed well, we looked at her last year, I thought Celtic Challenge she was excellent last year but again she’s stepped up this year and she’s physical.
“I think what we’re doing is we’re growing a group of players that are physical and are abrasive who understand the set piece and Adelle brings something different and deserves this chance.
“And Evie was out for a year with an ACL injury, but worked so hard to get back and is such a good person, not just on the pitch but off it too.
“She fits into our culture and our environment particularly well and her versatility is really good for us because she’s a distributor, she can kick and she’s very good defensively and her communication skills are excellent.
“It’s really good to see her back.”
Bristol Bears’ uncapped back Meg Varley has been ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury while Hannah Walker was unavailable for selection for this one due to a knock, but the uncapped Edinburgh University and Edinburgh winger should be back soon.
The game is at 4.45pm and will be live via the BBC with Scotland cap number 164 Sarah Law (53 appearances) and cap number 10 Donna Kennedy (a record 115 caps) being given the honour of delivering the match ball.
The Guinness Women’s Six Nations runs from March 22 to April 26 and Scotland start versus Wales at Hive Stadium in round one – get tickets for all three Scotland home games here.
Scotland squad to play Wales: Chloe Rollie; Rhona Lloyd, Emma Orr, Lisa Thomson, Francesca McGhie; Helen Nelson, Leia Brebner-Holden; Anne Young, Lana Skeldon, Elliann Clarke, Hollie Cunningham, Sarah Bonar, Rachel Malcolm (C), Rachel McLachlan, Evie Gallagher. Subs: Elis Martin, Leah Bartlett, Christine Belisle, Adelle Ferrie, Alex Stewart, Jade Konkel, Caity Mattinson, Evie Wills.
All 23 Scotland players will be needed this weekend – thanks to Mark Brown for the photo
GH Media will be covering Scotland women’s journey right through to Rugby World Cup 2025, bringing insight from within the camp throughout and featuring other parts of the game in this country too – thanks to those already supporting the content, if you or your company would like to get involved please email gary@gh-media.co.uk