Scotland’s Rachel Malcolm braced for another tough Japan test

Captain Rachel Malcolm says the ability to make big changes to the starting line- up reflects the strength in depth of the Scotland squad.

After Scotland began their WXV2 title defence with a 19-0 over Italy last weekend, head coach Bryan Easson has made six alterations to his starting line-up for Saturday’s game with Japan in South Africa.

“It truly is a 30-player squad and beyond, the strength of this squad is to make changes depending on the team we are playing against,” said Malcolm.

“We knew coming into this tournament we would face three very different styles of rugby. The squad we have for this week will definitely allow us to impose ourselves on Japan.

“Japan have put us under a huge amount of pressure previously. Last year it took us 60 minutes to break them down and the first 40 was one of the hardest I’ve played in a Scotland shirt because they did move us around and keep us pinned in so we have to be aware of that threat.

“We have had to get fitter and stronger and I would say this is probably the fittest Scotland team I’ve been a part of.

“It shows the strength of the depth that we have, that we can have a bench that can come on and raise the intensity and finish the job for us and put teams under pressure for that last 20 minutes.

“Being able to do that is what’s allowed us to take things to that next level.”