Helen Nelson will have close friend Emma Wassell on her mind on Saturday when Scotland’s women take on Australia looking to retain the WXV 2 rugby title, the stand-off saying she wants to make the second-row “proud”.
Ellon’s Wassell helped Scotland to lift the inaugural trophy 12 months ago in South Africa, but is back at home this time after discovering a tumour on her chest.
Her rehabilitation continues and she has spoken this week about the support she had from Nelson and the “rugby family” since the diagnosis.
Nelson, the Scotland vice-captain who began her rugby journey at Jubilee Park in Ballachulish and Lochaber Rugby Club’s Banavie ground, will be key if they are to defeat the Australians at the Athlone Sports Stadium in Cape Town.
And, after wins over Italy and Japan, she wants to top the standings for her long-term team mate.
“It was obviously really shocking news for Wass herself, but also for us as her close friends and team mates when we heard about the tumour,” Nelson, the 30-year-old who will be winning her 65th cap at the weekend, said.
“Our initial reaction was just to get around here and support her as best we could and do everything we could.
“We are all a really tight knit family, so it hit us pretty hard initially, but everyone – management, physios, the medical side of things – was amazing and made her feel as comfortable as possible. That helped put our minds at ease as well, so that we knew she was getting the best support possible.
“We’ve done everything we can. She’s amazing – she’s incredibly tough and resilient and it is sad not to have her in South Africa with us, she’s such a big personality.
“But just knowing that she’s back home recovering and preparing for what’s to come next, we’re happy that she’s being looked after.
“We know we’ve got the opportunity to go out there and make her proud this weekend and we’ve talked about it quite a lot. We will do everything we can to represent her and bring a trophy back home to her.”
Scotland have only played Australia three times in their history with the last one being at the Rugby World Cup 2021 played in 2022 in New Zealand.
Then, in Whangarei, the Wallaroos won 14-12 after the Scots were 12-0 up at the break.
“I remember being frustrated afterwards and thinking ‘we could have won that’,” Nelson, who plays for Loughborough Lightning, recounts.
“We were maybe not as clinical as we could have been. It was a good game and we were definitely in it for a long period – it just makes me excited to play them again, to be honest.
“We’ve been focusing on more recent games, ours and the last four or five games that Australia have played. We know it’s going to be a big physical battle against the Australians, but we definitely back ourselves and we know that if we put that full 80 minutes together we can retain that title.”
The Scotland-Australia game is at 4pm UK time on Saturday at the Athlone Sports Stadium and live on BBC iPlayer and RugbyPass TV
Scotland women’s matchday squad for the WXV 2 clash with Australia
15 Chloe Rollie (Ealing Trailfinders) (69)
14 Coreen Grant (Saracens) (13)
13 Emma Orr (Bristol Bears) (23)
12 Lisa Thomson (Ealing Trailfinders) (63)
11 Francesca McGhie (Leicester Tigers) (16)
10 Helen Nelson (Loughborough Lightning) (64)
9 Leia Brebner-Holden (Gloucester-Hartpury/Cheltenham Tigers) (4)
1 Leah Bartlett (Leicester Tigers) (37)
2 Lana Skelson (Bristol Bears) (73)
3 Elliann Clarke (Bristol Bears) (14)
4 Eva Donaldson (Leicester Tigers) (14)
5 Sarah Bonar (Harlequins) (41)
6 Rachel Malcolm (Loughborough Lightning, C) (51)
7 Rachel McLachlan (Montpellier) (45)
8 Evie Gallagher (Bristol Bears) (31)
Subs
16 Elis Martin (Loughborough Lightning) (14)
17 Anne Young (Loughborough Lightning) (14)
18 Christine Belisle (Loughborough Lightning) (39)
19 Louise McMillan (Saracens) (57)
20 Jade Konkel (Harlequins) (65)
21 Caity Mattinson (Ealing Trailfinders) (26)
22 Meryl Smith (Bristol Bears) (21)
23 Lucia Scott (Hartpury University/Gloucester Hartpury) (3)
Helen Nelson is pictured attempting a kick last week versus Japan in the main image, thanks to Scottish Rugby
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