Gary Heatly in Exeter
Scottish Rugby’s performance director David Nucifora says that “there’s a lot of work being done behind the scenes” when it comes to the women’s game.
When it was announced by the governing body in July that current head coach Bryan Easson – the man who is currently at the Women’s Rugby World Cup just now with the squad and has led them to the quarter-finals – had decided to leave post-event, the phrase “as Scottish Rugby prepares to transition professional women’s rugby back to Scotland” was used.
It left some people scratching their heads given that professional women’s rugby has never been in Scotland before, but it seems like more of the top players could be based north of the border going forward.
Time will tell on that and the World Cup is the main priority just now, but off field issues were sadly top of the agenda leading into the big event and will be on the agenda again once Scotland’s race is run in England in the coming weeks.
Captain Rachel Malcolm said pre-event that the timing of the announcement over Easson’s future and contract negotiations between players and the governing body running up to the eve of the tournament were “very disruptive” leading into the World Cup.
The squad have shrugged those issues off so far and delivered strong bonus point wins over Wales and Fiji in Pool B with a group decider to come versus Canada in Exeter on Saturday.
“Bryan made a decision to move on from his role,” Nucifora told Scotland Rugby News and other outlets as part of a press conference on Wednesday at Oriam in Edinburgh updating everyone on the Scottish Rugby high performance set up, including new deals for Scotland men’s head coach Gregor Townsend and Glasgow Warriors men’s head coach Franco Smith.
“There’s a lot going on in the women’s front as well, but obviously we’ve got a World Cup going on. They’ve done really well at the moment. They’ve got themselves through to a quarter-final.
“But there’s a lot of work being done behind the scenes with regards to what that looks like. And we’ll get to a point of announcing that once the World Cup’s finished.”
Work is ongoing to find a replacement for Easson as part of the work behind the scenes, the Australian added.
The Scotland matchday 23 to face Canada is set to be named on Thursday.
If they can top the pool after Saturday’s clash with second best in the world Canada then they would likely face a last eight tie versus either Australia or USA in Bristol on September 13.
Should sixth in the world Scotland lose to Canada at Sandy Park then their last eight tie would likely be against England in Bristol on September 14.
Scotland Women’s Rugby World Cup squad
Forwards: Leah Bartlett, Becky Boyd, Sarah Bonar, Elliann Clarke, Lisa Cockburn, Eva Donaldson, Evie Gallagher, Adelle Ferrie, Jade Konkel, Rachel Malcolm (C), Elis Martin, Rachel McLachlan, Molly Poolman, Lana Skeldon, Alex Stewart, Emma Wassell, Molly Wright, Anne Young.
Backs: Leia Brebner-Holden, Beth Blacklock, Rhea Clarke, Coreen Grant, Rhona Lloyd, Caity Mattinson, Francesca McGhie, Helen Nelson, Emma Orr, Hannah Ramsay, Chloe Rollie, Lisa Thomson, Hannah Walker, Evie Wills.
David Nucifora is pictured – thanks to Scottish Rugby
From August 7 until September 30, GH Media will be following the Scotland World Cup journey all of the way. We will be at all of the Scotland matches down south and will be bringing you all of the interviews and news from camp as well as taking a wider look at the tournament as a whole and its impact on the women’s game. Thanks to Quirky Chocolate and other supporters for allowing this content to happen and to readers for engaging with it.