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Scotland 'still in the fight' at the Rugby World Cup

By PA
The post-match interview is one of the toughest gigs in broadcast journalism (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Scotland head coach Bryan Easson is looking for his players to add a clinical edge to their passion and determination as they bid to cause a Women’s World Cup upset against hosts New Zealand.

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Easson’s side have to beat the Black Ferns in Whangarei on Saturday morning to keep alive their hopes of progression after agonising defeats in their first two Pool A games.

Scotland suffered an 18-15 defeat to Wales in their tournament opener when Keira Bevan kicked an 84th-minute penalty to clinch victory.

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They responded by taking a 12-0 half-time lead against an Australia side that went on to score 14 unanswered second-half points despite having two players sent off late on.

New Zealand will be a step up given the hosts have scored 97 points in their opening two wins.

Easson, who has brought in Edinburgh University’s Shona Campbell for the injured Chloe Rollie in his only change, said: “Last weekend’s result was a tough one to take but I can’t fault the passion, determination and belief the squad displayed against Australia.

“We’ve had a really good review this week and we will be looking to make sure we are clinical in executing our game plan against the Black Ferns.

“We’ve got two losing bonus points against two good sides and we are now looking to push on and show everyone that we are still in the fight.”

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NH 49 minutes ago
Battle of the breakdown to determine Wallabies’ grand slam future

Nice one John. I agree that defence (along with backfield kick receipt/positioning) remains their biggest issue, but that I did see some small improvements in it despite the scoreline like the additional jackal attempts from guys like tupou and the better linespeed in tight. But, I still see two issues - 1) yes they are jackaling, but as you point out they aren't slowing the ball down. I think some dark arts around committing an extra tackler, choke tackles, or a slower roll away etc could help at times as at the moment its too easy for oppo teams to get quick ball (they miss L wright). Do you have average ruck speed? I feel like teams are pretty happy these days to cop a tackle behind the ad line if they still get quick ball... and 2) I still think the defence wide of the 3-4th forward man out looks leaky and disconnected and if sua'ali'i is going to stay at 13 I think we could see some real pressure through that channel from other teams. The wallabies discipline has improved and so they are giving away less 3 pt opportunities and kicks into their 22 via penalty. Now, they need to be able to force teams to turnover the ball and hold them out. They scramble quite well once a break is made, but they seem to need the break to happen first... Hunter, marika and daugunu were other handy players to put ruck pressure on. Under rennie, they used to counter ruck quite effectively to put pressure on at the b/down as well.

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