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Easson's Six Nations selections: 'For the first time, good players are not making the squad'
By Gary Heatly
Scotland women’s head coach Bryan Easson says that any talk of the Rugby World Cup stops now with the sole focus for his charges between now and April 26 being the Women’s Six Nations.
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When the Scots met up late last July for their first training camp of 2024/25, Easson and skipper Rachel Malcolm both referenced that it was the start of a ’14 month journey’ through to September 2025 and the end of the World Cup in England.
A number of squad members also used the same phrase during the September window when they played Wales and Fiji and during WXV 2 in South Africa later that month and into October.
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However, that term itself – and that longer term outlook – seems to have been put on the back burner for now with the Scots really keen to make their mark in the upcoming Six Nations, especially having lost out on third place and a WXV 1 spot last year when they were beaten by Ireland in round five.
Scotland – who are now seventh – reached a record high of fifth in the world rankings at one point last year and have won 12 of their last 16 Tests dating back to late April 2023.
As a result, there is plenty to build on and they have three home games to come in the Six Nations against Wales, Italy and Ireland.
“I’ll be really clear, we spoke about the World Cup pre-WXV 2, but that’s all – we’re not going to speak about the World Cup now,” Easson stated as he named his 34-strong training squad for the Six Nations on Wednesday.
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“This is a Six Nations tournament, it’s one of the biggest tournaments in the world and that’s what our focus is – it is Six Nations and Six Nations only at this moment.
“If you look historically, we’ve been sixth and fifth in the Six Nations over the years, but in recent history we’ve been up to fourth and have been disappointed not to be third.
“Losing to Ireland in the last Six Nations and then to Australia to finish runners-up at WXV 2, those were frustrating results, but we are always learning.
“I think we’re now putting performances together that mean we should be looking at every game as being a real opportunity.
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“I’m not going to sit here and say that we’re going to win Grand Slams or anything like that, but I think we’ve got to look at every game as an opportunity for us.
“We’ve got a group of players that are playing well at some of the top clubs around and it’s our job as coaches to pull it all together and make it a good Six Nations because it is an important Six Nations.”
Since Scotland returned home from Rugby World Cup 2021 played in late 2022 in New Zealand, a batch of players have been contracted on a full-time basis via the governing body, a large majority of them are playing regularly in the PWR and young Scottish talent has been getting more exposure with Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors in the ever-expanding Celtic Challenge competition.
All of those things have helped the national team arrest a losing run that numbered 12 matches by April 2023 when they were thumped 55-0 by France to turn things around, win WXV 2 that year and hit other milestones.
These things have also given Easson a bigger player base from which to pick from and that can be seen in the squad that he has named for the Six Nations with nine new caps and seasoned campaigners such as Lisa Cockburn of Gloucester-Hartpury, Louise McMillan and Fi McIntosh of Saracens, Eva Donaldson of Leicester Tigers and Mairi McDonald of Exeter Chiefs left out.
“I think there’s been a lot of good rugby played since WXV 2 when we came back from Cape Town in the PWR, the Celtic Challenge and the French league as well where Rachel McLachlan and Rhona Lloyd are and, as a coaching group, we’ve watched every single minute of every single game,” Easson said.
“We convene every Wednesday and we give feedback to players on a week-to-week basis.
“Selection is based on performance, it is based on who is performing consistently and effectively week in and week out.
“For the first time we’ve probably got a group of good players not making the squad and I think that’s testament to the players selected and testament to the games that they’re playing week in and week out and their performances.
“It was a tough selection to make in terms of this group, but it’s all been based on performance.”
And two of the nine uncapped players whose names may not be so familiar to supporters based north of the border are in-form second-rows Becky Boyd of Loughborough Lightning and Hollie Cunningham of Bristol Bears.
Boyd qualifies for Scotland via her Glasgow-born grandfather and was involved with England under-20s last year, while Cunningham, a former England under-18 and under-20 cap who trained with the Red Roses in 2024, qualifies through her Scottish-born grandmother.
“Becky Boyd is a youngster who’s played at Loughborough Lightning but played at Loughborough University as well and we have been impressed by her,” Easson explained.
“And Hollie Cunningham is a player that we’ve had our eye on for just over a year around her availability and she’s playing regularly for Bristol.
“She’s a really good ball carrier and really abrasive. She’s tall and she’s also really good lineout wise.”
Sale Sharks’ centre Rachel Phillips, Bristol Bears’ centre/winger Meg Varley and Edinburgh quintet Aila Ronald, Hannah Walker, Adelle Ferrie, Molly Poolman and Rhea Clarke are the other uncapped players in a group that will be led by longstanding skipper Rachel Malcolm.
Of the players who are injured and who will miss the whole tournament, Saracens winger Coreen Grant has had a knee operation and is likely to be fit by the end of June and utility Bristol Bears’ back Meryl Smith is touch and go for the World Cup as she continues her rehab after picking up an ACL injury at WXV 2.
And Loughborough second-row Emma Wassell, who is recovering from a tumour in her chest, is back running and working in the gym and is “moving in the right direction with the World Cup a real possibility for her”, according to Easson.
Scotland’s Six Nations campaign begins at home to Wales at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh on March 22 with the first training camp starting on February 24 minus the players from the PWR play-off teams.
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