Scotland can't get carried away in World Cup opener, says Lisa Thomson

Lisa Thomson during a Scotland Women's open training session at the Oriam, on September 17, 2022, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

The matchday 23 for the Pool A clash at Okara Park in Whangarei was due to be named at 4.45am UK time this morning and whoever has been selected they will know just how important the match is.

There are only 12 teams in the showpiece event which means that the two best placed third teams will progress from the pool stage through to the quarter-finals.

As a result, 10th in the world Scotland and ninth in the world Wales – who are in a pool with New Zealand and Australia – both have a good opportunity to make it through to the second phase.

However, if they want to do that a win in this game is crucial and the two sides are very evenly matched.

“This is the big game which sets us off on our World Cup journey and we know what we want to get from it, but we will stay calm,” Thomson, the 25-year-old centre with 46 caps said.

“Everyone is buzzing to get out there and get started, but we just have to stay calm and really focus on ourselves and what we can do.

“A thing we have really looked for in the last season or so is a full 80 minute performance, we were in the most recent game versus the USA for large spells and 100 percent we want to start well against Wales.

“We want to put in a performance that can inspire the wee girls back home.”

In the Six Nations clash against Wales in Cardiff in April, Scotland led 19-7 just after half-time, but lost 24-19.

“We learnt a lot about ourselves that day, we were in that game for 60 or 70 minutes and we created a lot of opportunities which we just didn’t finish off, so we have been working on being more controlled,” Thomson adds.

The match takes place on Sunday at 5.45am UK time.