WXV2: Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm set to win 50th cap in Italy clash

SCOTLAND captain Rachel Malcolm will win her 50th cap in Cape Town on Saturday as the team begin the defence of their WXV title against Italy. Head coach Bryan Easson has made five changes of personnel from the team that beat Fiji 59-15 a fortnight ago, including alongside Malcolm in the back row, where Evie Gallagher replaces Jade Konkel at No 8.

Elsewhere in the pack, Fiona McIntosh takes over from Louise McMillan at lock, while Christine Belisle resumes at tighthead in place of Ellian Clarke. Anne Young, who like Clarke made her first start against the Fijians, keeps her place at loosehead.

In the backs, Coreen Grant returns on the right wing in place of Rhona Lloyd, while a midfield reshuffle sees Meryl Smith move from 10 to 12 in place of Lisa Thomson, with Helen Nelson resuming at stand-off.

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Leia Brebner-Holden and Lucia Scott, who made their debuts off the bench against Wales then came on as replacements against Fiji, are again two of the backs replacements. There is no place on the bench for either Konkel or Leah Bartlett, who has been the first-choice loosehead.

Speaking via Zoom from South Africa, Easson confirmed that all 30 members of the squad had been available for selection. “Clean bill of health,” he said. “We picked a 23 that we believe can perform in that game. We’re really lucky that we have grown this group – we’re in a position now where nobody’s position is safe, and that’s what’s pushing us forward.

“Anne has bided her time,” he added when asked about the selection of Young.  “She’s been in this group since 2019. She did her job well in the set piece against Fiji, and she also gives us extra round the pitch as well.”

Asked to comment on Malcolm’s contribution to the squad, the coach said: “She is an exceptional woman. She leads from the front. Last week against Fiji was her best performance for Scotland and showed the rounded player that she is.”

Young also paid tribute to Malcolm, saying:  “Rach epitomises what it means to play for Scotland Women. She is an unbelievable player, captain and person off the pitch. 

“I’ve never met someone else who is so inspirational to all of us, but who is so approachable and available to everyone – experienced and new players. She has been massive for us over the last few years and will continue to be so. For her to get her 50th cap will be a really special moment for her and her family, and all of the girls.”

Having come late to rugby after initially dedicating herself to hockey, Malcolm herself admitted that it was hard to take in the achievement of reaching the 50-cap milestone. “It’s kind of surreal, I think,” she said. “The first three years of my Scotland career seemed to go very slowly in terms of cap numbers, just due to injuries and playing less Tests. The last three years have really crept up in terms of the number of Test matches, and I’ve been super-fortunate to get those opportunities.”

Having won 10 of their last 13 games, Scotland go into this WXV2 campaign in a confident frame of mind. The opposition – Japan and Australia come after Italy on consecutive Saturdays – is tougher than last year. But then Malcolm and her squad have become significantly harder to beat over the past 12 months or so.

“We’re here to win,” she added. “We’ve become a group who have learned a recipe to win. We’ve learned a lot about what we need to improve, and we’ve worked incredibly hard this pre-season to improve certain aspects of our game.

“I still don’t think we’re at our potential. Over the Six Nations and our last two games we’ve had a really nice trajectory of improvement, but I think there’s a lot still in there.”

World Rugby announced today that Claire Cruikshank has officially joined Easson’s coaching team as part of the Gallagher High Performance Academy. Cruikshank, who was in charge of the Scotland Under-20s squad at this summer’s Six Nations Summer Series, is one of 11 female coaches whose appointments are linked with WXV.

Scotland (v Italy at DHL Stadium, Cape Town, Saturday 2pm British time): Chloe Rollie; Coreen Grant, Emma Orr, Meryl Smith, Francesca McGhie; Helen Nelson, Caity Mattinson; Anne Young, Lana Skeldon, Christine Belisle. Fiona McIntosh, Sarah Bonar, Rachel Malcolm, Rachel McLachlan, Evie Gallagher. Replacements: Elis Martin, Lisa Cockburn, Elliann Clarke, Louise McMillan, Alex Stewart, Leia Brebner-Holden, Lisa Thomson, Lucia Scott.