Scotland lost their opening Summer Test 34-29 to Italy in Viadana on Friday evening as the build up to the Women’s Rugby World Cup really started to crank up.
A match report from the action in the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella can be found here and here are five talking points…
Slow start a concern
It may have been Scotland’s first competitive outing together since April and effectively only a warm-up game, but the way Scotland played certainly for the first 20 minutes and, really, for the majority of the first half was a concern. Italy dominated the tempo in that period and went 15-0 up with some incisive play including a lot of offloads.
“The first 20 minutes was rusty, it was like a pre-season rustiness, we were just a little bit passive in everything we did in that period,” head coach Bryan Easson said.
Start of second half much more like it
Scotland were just about in the game at half-time being 20-5 down, but they were definitely in the game by the 59th minute as they had hauled things back to 20-17. That was down to playing with much more physicality and intent during that spell and that is the chunk of the game – and minutes 70 to 80 – that the Scots will want to build on.
“I thought we showed some real intent, especially at the start of the second half and that’s what we are all about – as the fixture went on, we grew into it,” Easson said.
Bench impact
In the World Cup bench players are going to be so important and the replacements that came on here brought energy and changed the dynamic of things, especially Alex Stewart in the back-row and scrum-half Caity Mattinson. They have certainly given the coaches food for thought ahead of the next match.
“I was really pleased with some of the individual performances off the bench, I was really pleased with the energy that they brought to the game and Alex Stewart was excellent,” Easson said.
Malcolm in the middle (row) and two sevens on the pitch
When Adelle Ferrie went off in the 48th minute, captain Rachel Malcolm, so often seen in the back-row, moved up for a stint in the second-row. That also allowed Rachel McLachlan a spell at six and twinning up with sub Alex Stewart with two opensides on the pitch. This period is for trying things out pre-World Cip.
“We’re in a position at the moment where we’ve got a couple of niggles in the second-row and we just want to try things there and in the back-row, it’s good to see that we’ve got many options,” Easson said.
Ireland up next and an important week
The squad return to Edinburgh on Saturday and, after some downtime, will train at Oriam from Wednesday before travelling to Ireland. The next week is the last chance players have to impress Easson and co to make sure they get into the final 32-strong squad so intensity levels will keep on rising in coming days.
“The positive thing from us is after Italy there’s no new injuries and we’re in a good spot, the Ireland game is the focus now and we know it’ll be another tough hit out,” Easson said.
Next up, as mentioned, is Ireland away on August 2 with the World Cup squad named week commencing August 4 with 38 to be cut to 32.
Scotland squad that played Italy: Lucia Scott; Rhona Lloyd, Evie Wills, Lisa Thomson, Coreen Grant; Helen Nelson, Leia Brebner-Holden; Leah Bartlett, Lana Skeldon, Elliann Clarke, Emma Wassell, Adelle Ferrie, Rachel Malcolm (C), Rachel McLachlan, Evie Gallagher. Subs: Elis Martin, Molly Wright, Lisa Cockburn, Eva Donaldson, Alex Stewart, Caity Mattinson, Hannah Ramsay, Chloe Rollie.
Scorers: Tries: Lana Skeldon, Helen Nelson, Evie Gallagher (2), Elis Martin. Cons: Nelson (2).
- Scotland’s first World Cup opponents on August 23 in Manchester will be Wales and on Saturday they had an impressive 21-12 win over Australia in Brisbane.
Tickets for Scotland-England at Murrayfield in April 2026 can be purchased here.
The Italy-Scotland game is pictured
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