Coach Banahan plays down role in transforming Scotland’s fortunes

The side has leapfrogged from 12th to fifth in the world rankings and have no intention of putting on the brakes as they head into this year’s WXV campaign.

Scotland shoulder the weight of expectation as defending champions, but Banahan believes a successful warm-up campaign against Wales and Fiji has laid the perfect path as their hunt for the crown begins. 

“Mentality in sport means when you get momentum you have to keep moving with it,” he said. 

“As an attack coach you want people to be positive about what they do, so I want the girls to be confident. I will always be there cheering them on – whether it goes right or it goes wrong – because expressing ourselves in attack can help us win games.”

Scotland scored six tries against Wales, before upping the ante against Fiji to clock another nine – two statement wins Banahan believes have set the tone for what’s still to come. 

“Scoring 100 points in two games, regardless of who the opposition is, you can’t complain about that,” the attack coach said. 

“We’re creating a lot of opportunities, but if we want to keep moving forward, we need to look at the small moments where we can be more clinical and ruthless.

“My goal is to push closer to 4th in the world,” he added, with France currently occupying that spot, more than 10 rankings points clear of the Scots. “I think if we’re happy with 5th that gives everyone else the chance to catch up, so we have to look for results and keep squeezing that gap.”

For the former England men’s winger, creating a team environment where players feel emboldened to try new combinations and tricks forms a large part of the longer-term game plan to climb the world leaderboard.

“The first piece of advice I gave the girls was ‘don’t say sorry’,” he said. “I don’t want to hear that. I back them with everything I have that if they believe something is on, they do it. 

“If it comes off, that’s how we learn, through negative or positive outcomes. We don’t go out on the pitch to make mistakes on purpose or play within ourselves, we go out there to try new things and live to fight another day.

 “If we keep propelling ourselves forwards it will give us a buffer zone for games that might not go our way, but we don’t want to settle for that. There’s no reason why we can’t be pushing for the very top.”

Scotland go head-to-head with Italy in the WXV opener, having beaten Le Azzurre 17-10 during the Women’s Six Nations in April, and Banahan believes the depth of the squad will be key to repeating the feat.

He added: “The squad is amazing because they’re sometimes still shocking themselves, but that also means they’re pushing themselves because they’re realising what they’re capable of. 

“Quite a few players still only have a few caps and are at the start of their international journey too, so you have to think ‘Where will they be in three years time?’ There’s trust anyone can step in and do the job. 

“That’s where the pressure of selection and training is pushing the team forward. People know if they want to be part of the squad they have to perform – that’s what pushes teams forward.

“I definitely get the sense something special is growing. I think if we maintain our current trend into the Six Nations and the World Cup, we’ll be in a good position to either shock or move even further than everyone expects.”