Sarah Bonar is now looking forward to the “exciting challenge” of facing one of the world’s top sides France this coming Saturday after she helped Scotland get their Guinness Women’s Six Nations campaign off to a winning start at the weekend.
The 31-year-old second-row earned her 43rd cap in the 24-21 victory over the Welsh at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh on Saturday and bagged her fifth try for her country too.
She has been around long enough to know that France in La Rochelle in round two of the competition will be a stiff test, but it is one she cannot wait for.
The French beat Ireland 27-15 in Belfast in round one while Scotland last beat them back in 2010 when they came out on top 10-8 at Lasswade’s Hawthornden ground. They also secured a 13-13 draw with them at Scotstoun in Glasgow in 2020.
“France is going to be a tough one, but it is an exciting challenge for us,” Harlequins player Bonar said ahead of the Stade Marcel-Deflandre mission to take on the fourth best team in the world rankings.
“Their fans are loud, I’m sure there will be a packed stadium and it is just about rising to the challenge. We are all looking forward to it and these are the games you want to be involved in.
“I think we will need to be more clinical and also retain ball. We just need to keep the ball for longer spells than we did against Wales and build pressure through the phases.”
It was not pretty at times against Wales, but Scotland got over the line for a 13th Test win in the last 17.
“I think the way we dug it out shows the evolution of this team,” Bonar said.
“Also, having the likes of Jade Konkel on the bench to be able to come on and add energy in the crunch moments is so important and that whole squad effort is what we need to continue going forward.
“It is always good kicking off the championship with a win, we are really happy with that, but there are a lot of ‘fix ups’ from it that we’ll be working on in the next few days.”
Given both starting second-row Hollie Cunningham and replacement Adelle Ferrie were making their Scotland debuts, Bonar was very much the experienced member of the ‘boiler house’ trio at the weekend.
And she had great praise for the two newbies.
“Hollie was class,” Bonar stated.
“I have played against her in the PWR down south for a good few years now and she is a fierce opponent. She carries really hard and she has just brought intensity and standards and has fitted really well into our squad.
“Adelle has just taken everything in her stride, a very different rugby story to Hollie, but she came on and did her job in a really tight game.
“It is a huge step up for her, but in the last few camps she has really excelled and it is inspiring for those that are playing grassroots rugby and club rugby in Scotland that they can look at it and say ‘I want to be the next Adelle’.
“The fact that we have Scottish talent coming through the pathway is really exciting.”
As well as the Scotland and France wins at the weekend, England defeated Italy in York 38-5 with a bonus point leading the way into round two.
- Uncapped Hannah Ramsay, the Edinburgh University and Edinburgh Rugby stand-off who has previously played for the likes of Livingston, Corstorphine Cougars and the national under-20s, has been upgraded from a day trainer to a full member of the Scotland Six Nations squad. She has replaced Bristol Bears’ uncapped centre/winger Meg Varley who will miss the whole event with a hamstring injury.
The Guinness Women’s Six Nations runs from March 22 to April 26 and, after a trip to France in round two on March 29, Scotland are at Hive Stadium in round three versus Italy on April 13 – get tickets for the two Scotland remaining home games here.
Sarah Bonar is pictured after scoring her try versus Wales – thanks to N50 Photography
GH Media will be covering Scotland women’s journey right through to Rugby World Cup 2025, bringing insight from within the camp throughout and featuring other parts of the game in this country too – thanks to those already supporting the content, if you or your company would like to get involved please email gary@gh-media.co.uk