Last year Scotland came to compete, this year we're here to win WXV 2 after huge world ranking leap - Fraser Brown

Francesca McGhie was among the tries last year during the WXV 2 tournament as Scotland beat South Africa at Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)Francesca McGhie was among the tries last year during the WXV 2 tournament as Scotland beat South Africa at Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Francesca McGhie was among the tries last year during the WXV 2 tournament as Scotland beat South Africa at Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Italy first up in Cape Town for Scots

The Scotland Women’s squad arrived in Cape Town on Friday and, after a couple of days of acclimatisation, began preparations for our first game of WXV 2, against Italy this Saturday at the 58,000-capacity DHL Stadium.

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I’ve been coaching the forwards since July, and this is my first time on tour as part of a coaching group and I'm really enjoying the challenge. There are obvious differences to touring as a coach as opposed to touring as a player but the most notable has been how your week is structured.

As a player, the front of the week is about learning and physical preparation. The mental focus required to perform bubbles away in the background, building towards game day.

The Scotland team huddle after the win over Fiji at Hive Stadium earlier this month. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)The Scotland team huddle after the win over Fiji at Hive Stadium earlier this month. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)
The Scotland team huddle after the win over Fiji at Hive Stadium earlier this month. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)

As a coach it’s reversed. The beginning of the week brings long days and stress. The pressure to plan ahead and deliver clear, concise detail is the priority, ensuring messaging for the players is clear and accurate. The end of the week is less intense as you build towards the game, with focus already shifting onto the following weeks opponents.

After winning the inaugural WXV 2 tournament last year there has been a noticeable shift in the players' mindset as to how they are approaching this year’s competition.

Last year was about coming here to compete and play. This year it’s about coming here to win, and I think that’s a fair reflection of where the team are given the performances over the last 18 months. Bryan Easson's side have now won 10 of their last 13 Tests.

It’s good to change the expectations around the group and go from being a Scotland team that wants to perform to one that expects to win. That’s the message we’ve been pushing as coaches. We’re not here just to compete. We’re fifth in the world which is an amazing achievement considering where the group was around 18 months ago, but it’s not a case of patting ourselves on the back. We want to continue to improve and continue to win and so we’re looking to win WXV 2 again.

We have three games on three consecutive Saturdays, starting with Italy this weekend, then Japan, then Australia.

The three matches pose different challenges. Italy are very unstructured with some very good individuals who can play from anywhere. A strong set-piece but a real emphasis on playing from deep and playing flat to the line.

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Japan are very similar in style to their men’s team. They have structure which they play within but also a lot of tempo to their play and they have a really good skill set.

Based on rankings before the tournament, Australia looks like being the toughest test. They were fifth in the world before Scotland won the two summer Tests against Wales and Fiji and moved above them.

Like the other two, Australia have very good individuals who can make or break a game, a solid set piece and power and tempo in attack. To be honest, all three teams are close in terms of the threats they can bring and no one game will be easier or harder.

Fifth is the highest Scotland have ever been in the world rankings and the aspiration now is to break into the top four. That will be very tough. England are way out ahead at the top and New Zealand are second without really being fully professional so they have a lot of potential for growth.

Canada are third and France are fourth. Scotland showed in the Six Nations that we can more than compete with France and we should have won that game. To break into the top four we have to be consistent and win all the games we are expected to win then pick up a couple of victories against sides ranked above us. It’s probably not going to happen immediately but over the next couple of years that has to be the goal.

If you look where Scotland have come from in terms of world rankings over the last year and a half, the progress has been fantastic. We were 11th in the world and now we’re fifth. Obviously we can’t continue rising on that trajectory but professionalism is still in its infancy in the women’s game in Scotland so there is no reason why, with more time and more funding, we can’t keep developing.

Full-time contracts came in for the Scotland players in December 2022 and there has been a big upturn in professionalism since. For a lot of the players, it means they don’t have to try to balance a full-time job with full-time rugby. But what I think is more important is the learnings you pick up when you become a professional rugby player. Things like how to look after your body and what is expected of you off the pitch in terms of your conditioning, rehab, physio work, nutrition and timekeeping.

And, crucially, because you are full-time, you have more time to spend on improving your skills. So, it’s been a huge benefit to have the players on full-time contracts but it’s still early in the process. The learning curve has been steep because women’s rugby in Scotland was wholly amateur. We’re now trying to bring in professional coaching structures and it’s still early days.

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WXV 2 will be used to decide the final six places at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup and the results in Cape Town will influence what pot you go into in the World Cup draw. It will be based on world rankings and, as things stand, Scotland would go into pot 2 which could mean a favourable draw.

As I said earlier, the expectation now is to win. The squad is strong and there is good depth. I think there have been times in the past when there has been a 15, maybe a 23, and then the rest. But now we’re having to have difficult conversations with players because there are 30 genuine options to consider when picking the team and they are starting to understand that no positions are guaranteed any more.

As a result, the competition for places, the expectation on them to perform, both in training and in matches, has never been higher. There is extra scrutiny on what we’re doing on and off the pitch. How you train but also how you recover, how you review, how professional you are and that’s a good thing because it drives them on and makes us a better team.

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