Fraser Brown confident Scotland’s ‘mindset shift’ will reap rewards in WXV

Having climbed from 12th to fifth in the world rankings last year, the campaign offers Scotland the opportunity to hone their craft ahead of the 2025 World Cup, but Brown insisted the team is taking each victory as it comes. 

“To win 19-0 against a team that have traditionally been strong opponents is a good place to be,” he said. “To do that and still be able to pick bones and say we actually need to be better here, here and here, is really pleasing. 

“To leave them pointless was a big bonus but we feel a bit frustrated too because we left a couple of tries and opportunities out there.

“In terms of breakdowns there’s always work to be done – I think we lost two – but we’re making a decent shift with our intent and hesitancy. If we rewind to the Six Nations two is down from eight jackal turnovers. We’re making big shifts but we’ve still got room to grow.” 

Speaking of growth, Scotland’s rise up the international rankings has paralleled a surge in on-pitch confidence which Brown credited to a shift in mentality.

“We got two penalties against Italy and opted for the scrum twice, that is a definite shift in mentality,” he said. “I think it shows the confidence we have in what the girls have done over the last 18 months but also the confidence they have in the set-piece and our attacking systems. 

“Particularly the last one of the game, it would have been easy to take the three points and put it to three scores, but with five, six minutes to go it was their decision on the pitch to go looking for that third try. 

“That shows how much they believe they are progressing and what a good team they are. We’re backing an attacking style of rugby and it was really pleasing to see that [against Italy].”

Brown also praised the 30-strong squad for its strength in depth, revealing the coaching team is intent on fostering an environment where the younger players have space to grow and develop on the big stages.

He added: “We’ve talked a lot about leadership. We obviously have Rach [Malcolm] – who’s a fantastic leader and has been in this squad for a long time – but how do we grow leadership below her? 

“Evie Gallagher [who received player of the match against Italy] is very quiet but the talent and quality of play she has makes her a natural leader. When she speaks people prick up their ears and listen, so someone like her is brilliant in terms of bringing momentum to the squad.”

Next up on Scotland’s hit-list is Japan, who lost their opening match 31-24 to South Africa, but Brown is determined to deter his side from being complacent even though they head in as favourites.

“Where we are now as a squad is if you expect or put pressure on yourself to go out and win things, you have to get rid of that complacency,” he said. 

“The mindset shift we’ve been pushing is we have to perform to our best every single game, it doesn’t matter who you are playing against. If you want to get better, win things and progress up the world rankings, you can’t afford to have an off day.

“Japan move the ball really well, so from a defensive point of view, we can’t allow them to play in front of us – they’ve got great skill sets and they play with great tempo.

“They are a well-drilled, technical team. If you allow them to get on top of you, if you give them space and if you don’t shut them down or do your job at the set-piece, they can hurt you. 

“They looked very strong in that first half against South Africa so we’ll need to be at our best both sides of the ball and around the set-piece to get a result at the weekend.”