New defence coach Chris Laidlaw wants to help Scotland women get back to their tenacious best in that area of the game during the upcoming WXV Global Series.
At the Rugby World Cup in England in 2025 under the watchful eye of then defence coach Tyrone Holmes, the Scots put their bodies on the line and defending like demons for 80 plus minutes in all four matches as they reached the last eight.
But in the Women’s Six Nations earlier this year key defensive elements looked to be missing somewhat at times as the team conceded 267 points in five games.
With Ioan Cunningham, who was heading up defence in April and May, having now left the coaching team, Laidlaw, who was previously attack coach for a spell in 2023, is now in charge of that area.
And he has ben working hard with the squad in recent weeks with the first WXV game on the horizon this coming Saturday versus world number three side Canada at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh.
When asked if the players were disappointed by their defence during the Six Nations, Laidlaw said: “Yeah, they were, they’re a proud team.
“They value that side of the ball in terms of the people that they are and in terms of the DNA and the culture of us as Scottish people.
“We want to be tenacious, we want to get after teams.
“That’s collision-based on the ground, at source and around set piece and there was definite disappointment [with the defending in the Six Nations].
“I think for me coming into the environment it’s just been really clear, we are not going after too much stuff as we have only had a few weeks together, but defence is primarily a real collective mindset.
“We’ve got to all be on the same page and, from a mentality point of view, we’ve got to understand how we’re applying pressure when the opposition have got the ball.
“Then obviously there’s loads of technical and tactical stuff that sits within that.
“But, for me, the biggest foundation is making sure everyone is on the same page and that we’ve got a real collective understanding and mindset when the opposition have got the ball. We all need to know what we’re trying to achieve.
“I think you can chip away at stuff, there’s key fundamentals and ideas in there around things like the collision area and the tackle area and those are things we’ve gone after.
“There’s also systems stuff around how we actually work together as a team and we’ve had a decent chunk of time to train and prepare.
“Is there room for growth? Of course, 100 percent and I think that’s the exciting bit. We can get stuck into it now, but there’s a long game here around how we get to Australia [and the World Cup in 2029] so that, come then, we are in a place to go and compete.
“We’ve got to have that big picture in mind whilst being really narrowly focused around the present and getting the group ready to perform during WXV.
“That’s why we’re here. We’ve got a game on Saturday and our job as coaches is to send the group out feeling prepared with ultimate clarity around what they are going after.
“Every day you can get better at something.”
The surname Laidlaw is, of course, a ‘well kent’ one in Scottish rugby circles and Chris’ father Roy is a legendary scrum-half who was a member of Scotland’s 1984 Grand Slam winning team and toured with the Lions to New Zealand in 1983.
His brother Clark is head coach of the Hurricanes in New Zealand and led them to a magnificent Super Rugby Pacific title a few months ago and his cousin is former Scotland men’s captain Greig.
Chris, the former Scotland men’s Club XV cap who is an ex-Glasgow Warriors women’s head coach and currently on secondment from Harlequins women to Scottish Rugby before the move becomes permanent in 2027, is forging an exciting coaching career right now.
He stated: “We’ve got a WhatsApp group the three of us [him, Clark and Greig].
“I talk to Clark quite a bit, every couple of days I’ll be messaging, but sometimes it’s just nice to connect as family first and then talk about rugby second. I’m massively proud of Greig and Clark and the family.
“Clark’s done an amazing job since being in New Zealand. He’s been over there a number of years apart from a short stint back here and seeing him lead a team to win Super Rugby was brilliant.
“I would be stupid not to lean on him and that experience as a bit of a soundboard and a support mechanism.
“The way they do stuff over there maybe slightly differs to the way we do stuff, but those coaching connections are helpful.
“Seeing Clark do what he did last year ignites you a bit as well to be like ‘all right, that’s pretty cool’. I don’t want to emulate that, but I want to forge my own path and I think I’ve done that a bit so far and now I am looking forward to the WXV Global Series.”
The upcoming 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, as mentioned, 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.
Chris Laidlaw is pictured – thanks to Scottish Rugby
It is shaping up to be an exciting 2026/27 season for women’s rugby in Scotland and GH Media will be covering it in detail – if any companies are keen to support this content please send an email to gary@gh-media.co.uk