Scotland interim head coach Dave Butcher says that Ceitidh Ainsworth is a “fantastic rugby player” and he has backed her to take her first international start in her stride this weekend against the might of New Zealand.
The 22-year-old has come through the ranks playing stand-off for Stirling County and Glasgow Warriors, but she made her Scotland debut last time out off the bench in the defeat versus Canada at scrum-half and impressed.
As a result, she has been handed the number nine starting shirt for Saturday’s big test against world number two Black Ferns at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh as the WXV Global Challenge continues (5.10pm, live on BBC ALBA and BBC iPlayer).
“I thought Ceitidh handled it fantastically when she came on against Canada, she didn’t look out of place whatsoever,” Butcher said.
She’s a fantastic rugby player, she’s still learning her craft at scrum-half, but the more we can expose her to this level the better.
Ceitidh really impressed me against Canada with how fast she was in and out of the contact and how she dealt with the change in position and the step up from a mental point of view was outstanding.
“She warrants a start to see how she deals with the pressure.”
As well as Ainsworth, loosehead prop Anne Young, second-row Holland Bogan and back-row Eva Donaldson come into the starting line-up with experienced forward Sarah Bonar earning a spot on the bench.
Hooker Lana Skeldon is set to earn her 89th cap in the match to go joint second with Heather Lockhart in the all-time Scotland women’s appearance list, former player Donna Kennedy earned a record 115 caps.
It will be a big task for Scotland to compete with the Black Ferns this weekend, but asked what he wants to see from his side Butcher added: “I think the contact area was the most disappointing last weekend, we didn’t fire a shot there.
“I can say that that was kind of taken personally this week by the players and staff and we’ve talked about it a lot. But I think, on top of that, just more of our identity.
“We saw little green shoots against Canada, especially on the attack side and we were rewarded for being brave at times.
“You saw some bravery and you saw some expression of how we want to play. We just need to see more of that, and if we can get that plus our contact area, the little glimpses we saw then turn into phases, and then we just need to join those phases together.
“As long as we’re seeing an evolution of how we want to play and how we want to express ourselves and our identity on the field then I’ll be really happy.”
Next up in the Vodafone Scotland WXV Series campaign – part of the wider WXV Global Series presented by Mitsubishi Electric featuring the top sides in the world – is New Zealand this coming Saturday and then Scotland are hosting Australia on September 26, both at the Hive.
Scotland’s away WXV Global Series fixtures will take place against Australia on October 17 and October 23.
Ceitidh Ainsworth is pictured – thanks to Ruby Adam Photography
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