Head coach Sione Fukofuka says that Aicha Sutcliffe will bring “energy and physicality” to the party should she come off the bench for her Scotland debut in the Women’s Six Nations clash with France this weekend.
With first choice hooker Lana Skeldon having joined the long list of injuries hampering the Scottish squad ahead of the round four match at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh on Saturday (4.15pm, live on BBC), 21-year-old Huntly, The Gordon Schools, Highland and Strathallan School product Sutcliffe has been named as a replacement for the full team for the first time.
Elis Martin is starting at hooker and under-20 and under-21 cap Sutcliffe may well replace her at some point – while she can also cover loosehead prop if needed – as the fifth placed Scots take on the title chasing French.
Fukofuka said: “Aicha has been travelling reserve [on the cusp of the matchday 23] now for the last few Test matches so she’s been in and around the group and has got to know the players.
“What we see in her is that she brings a lot of energy and physicality and she has the ability to cover loosehead as well as hooker so there is that little bit of versatility there and, as a coaching group, we are pleased to give her this chance.
“Coming up against France we know they’re going to be a very direct and physical team so we feel this is an opportunity for her to get that exposure to that if she comes on, to get that little bit of learning and hopefully take some of those lessons with her forward into what should be an exciting future.”
Now with Stirling County and Glasgow Warriors, Sutcliffe’s rugby journey began in the Minis at local club Huntly before she took a break from the game for a few years.
“I was then at The Gordon Schools at the start of secondary school and my dad was coaching girls rugby there so I got involved again,” she explained previously.
“It was fun playing with my friends and although I was playing netball as well which made things pretty busy at times I took rugby on with Highland.
“It was a really fun club to join and it brought a bit of structure to things in terms of playing as a team and in different positions.
“While I was there we made it to Murrayfield for an under-15 and that was a really good day.”
With her rugby and netball flourishing, Sutcliffe then moved away from the north east to Perthshire to go to Strathallan for her last two years at school after being offered a sports scholarship.
While team-wise Sutcliffe played more netball there, the excellent facilities on campus meant that she could work hard in the gym to prepare her for stepping up rugby levels and since under-18 level she has been with Stirling County.
Before Christmas this season she played a key part in them winning the Arnold Clark Premiership and was involved with Glasgow in the Celtic Challenge earlier this year.
France are firm favourites to win the Six Nations game, but Fukofuka wants to see a reaction from his side after the recent defeats to England and Italy which came after a win over Wales in round one.
“There’s no real pressure around the result on us, but there is pressure on the performance,” he explained.
“It’s a proud team and they walked off that field against Italy really disappointed.
“The result obviously is what we play for, but the performance in that 41-14 loss two eeks ago wasn’t consistent with where we want to be.
“The pressure is on us internally to just go and play to our potential and, if we do that, we can be proud of what we put out there on the field.”
- In the other games in the Six Nations on Saturday, Italy are playing England at 2pm UK time (live on BBC) and Ireland are taking on Wales at 6.30pm (live on BBC).
Aicha Sutcliffe is pictured – thanks to Scottish Rugby
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