Scotland wary of Columbia's threat in bid for World Cup spot

Scotland Women captain Rachel Malcolm has warned her colleagues they will have to be up for the battle from the first whistle when they begin their World Cup qualification bid against Colombia in Dubai on Friday.

The Scots are bidding to make it to the finals in New Zealand later this year, and the skipper knows they will have to work hard to subdue their opponents.

She said: “I think Colombia are going to bring a huge lot of fire. They traditionally come really hard out the blocks so the first 20 minutes is going to be vital for us in terms of our focus from minute one.

Six Nations preview with Exeter’s Sam Skinner | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 22

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“That’s been our big chat this week. We want to come out harder than they do in the first 20 minutes and impose our game on them.

“I think they’ll bring a huge amount of intensity and physicality. That’s something we need to deal with. We saw them win a game with 14 players so they’ve definitely got a lot of heart.”

The World Cup was supposed to take place last year but was delayed due to the pandemic.

Malcolm is eager to finally be able to begin the qualifying campaign.

“We’re so excited to get out there,” she said. “It’s been a long time in waiting.

“We’ve been together a long time now so we know the way we want to play. It’s just about fine-tuning. We’ve had a really good build-up and we’re ready to go.”