Scotland back-rower Evie Gallagher has been hailed as the “best player in the world at the minute” ahead of this weekend’s WXV Global Series match with Australia in Sydney.
The high praise for the 26-year-old No.8 came from her national team captain Rachel Malcolm who believes that Gallagher is a certainty to be involved on the inaugural women’s British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand next year if fit.
“Evie is, for me, the on-form player in the world at the minute and I don’t think that is something I would ever say lightly,” Malcolm said.
“She’s just class in every single aspect of the game.
“In attack, I think the way in which she carries the ball and punches above her weight shows her quality.
“Defensively, well that’s always been her trademark. Her ability to tackle – but probably most importantly the ability for us to get the ball back with her over the ball – is quite literally second to none and I think to have that in our team and in our armoury is huge.
“She’s a brilliant person. She’s a pretty unique individual and someone that I love spending time with, love having on my team and I think she’s so pivotal to us on the pitch and she’s such a key cog off the pitch for us as well.
“She’s developing into a brilliant leader and sometimes she does pull rabbits out of the hat for us.
“It’s on us as team mates to follow her and stick with her and give her the opportunities to shine as well.
“She’s just phenomenal in every single way. I probably can’t emphasise it enough but I think it’s just pretty cool to have someone of her calibre and her personality within our group.
“For me she’s the best player in the world at the minute and I know she’s someone that will embrace whichever shirt she has on her back whether that’s a Scotland one or a Lions one.”
For now, the shirt on Gallagher’s back is a Scotland one and on Saturday (2am UK time, live on RugbyPass TV) at the Accor Stadium the 45-capper and her team mates will be looking to end a seven-match losing run.
The match will kick off a quadruple header on the day and will be followed by a men’s sevens match between Australia and Fiji, a women’s sevens match between Australia and New Zealand and then the Wallabies against the All Blacks in the second men’s Bledisloe Cup Test of 2026.
Three weeks ago, Australia beat Scotland 30-10 in Edinburgh after the Scots were 10-5 up at half-time.
Interim Scotland head coach Dave Butcher added on Gallagher of Bristol Bears: “She’s outstanding, she’s a world class player.
“You can obviously see it on the pitch and that’s backed up by her stats, when you see them they’re incredible each week.
“She’s a huge player for us, she gives a massive amount for the team and that’s just not in the game, she’s like that through every training session.
“Her work ethic and work rate is absolutely huge. She’s there for the team and always stands up for the team.”
Scotland’s away WXV Global Series fixtures take place against Australia on October 17 and October 23.
Evie Gallagher is pictured – thanks to Peter Watt Photography
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