Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm has been impressed by what she has seen from uncapped duo Ceitidh Ainsworth and Katie Buchanan in training.
And she has backed them to make an impact if they get on off the bench for their full debuts versus Canada in the WXV Global Series opener at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh on Saturday (4.10pm, live on BBC ALBA and BBC iPlayer).
In recent years we have been used to seeing Ainsworth, 22, playing stand-off for Stirling County, but the age-grade cap is covering scrum-half here.
Malcolm said about the Glasgow Warriors player: “Ceitidh Ainsworth is someone who has moved positions into that scrum-half role and I think all of us over the last couple of weeks have been really impressed with how she’s stepped up into that role and, really, you would never know that that wasn’t her original position.
“She’s a very dynamic nine. She’s quite a ‘heads-up rugby’ type of nine so I think her ability to probably snipe around the breakdown is good.
“I think to bring her on later in the game and open up some of attacking opportunities hopefully will be really cool.”
Buchanan, the 23-year-old winger from the Exeter Chiefs, is a former England Under-20 cap who qualifies to play for the Scots via her maternal grandmother who was from the Gorbals in Glasgow.
“Katie Buchanan has been outstanding and she’s a really nice girl,” Malcolm stated.
“She’s been a really nice addition to the squad and has fitted in completely seamlessly and, in terms of her ability on the pitch, she brings something different to that back three than what we maybe have.
“She’s a really evasive player in terms of taking players on and getting out of small spaces and that’s exactly what you want against a big, strong Canadian team.
“I’ve no doubt that she’ll come on and make a massive impact hopefully.”
Scrum-half Rhea Clarke will be earning cap number five, but it will be first start for her country.
Malcolm said: “I think for Rhea it’s not so much a big jump for her to start because she’s been a part of the squad for a long time already.
“She’s quite a confident individual in how she carries herself and she’s worked extremely hard to get up to speed in terms of what we want from her and how we want to play.
“I think she’s very much earned that opportunity.”
As mentioned, the home Vodafone Scotland WXV Series campaign – part of the wider WXV Global Series presented by Mitsubishi Electric featuring the top sides in the world – begins for Scotland against Canada on Saturday at the Hive before welcoming New Zealand to these shores the following weekend on September 19 and then hosting Australia on September 26.
Scotland’s away WXV Global Series fixtures will take place against Australia on October 17 and October 23.
Ceitidh Ainsworth and Katie Buchanan are pictured in training recently – thanks to Peter Watt Photography
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