Forwards
Rated on Attack, Defence, Breakdown and Set Piece
1. Molly Wright: Carried well and was an integral part of a well-functioning Scottish
scrum. – (A7/D6/B6/S7) Overall: 6.5/10
2. Lana Skeldon: Crossed 100 international points with her try in a Player of the Match performance. The lineout woes of last week seem to be over, with just a wee wobble before halftime. Turnovers left right and centre! – (A8/D6/B9/S8) Overall: 8/10
3. Christine Belisle: Reacted quickly to save one slightly overthrown lineout. Got some
great shoves on in the scrum. – (A6/D6/B6/S7) Overall: 6.5/10
4. Eva Donaldson: Excellent in the lineout in her first start for Scotland. – (A6/D7/B7/S8) Overall: 7/10
5. Louise McMillan: Stole two lineouts, crucial in such a close fixture. Kept finding herself with no support and gave away a couple of turnovers due to this. – (A5/D7/B7/S8) Overall: 7/10
6. Rachel Malcolm (capt): Fantastic in defence as always and worked well in the lineout. One
or two handling errors. – (A6/D8/B7/S7) Overall: 7/10
7. Alex Stewart: Defended excellently and showed a turn of pace to drag the Italian
winger down. – (A7/D8/B7/S6) Overall: 7/10
8. Evie Gallagher: She loves a turnover. Strong pick-and-goes from the scrum and
made the most tackles of any Scotland player. – (A7/D8/B8/S7) Overall: 7.5/10
Backs
Rated on Attack, Defence, Breakdown and Influence
9. Caity Mattinson: Her passing was great and there was some quicker ball from rucks than last week, but this still seemed to slow down at a couple of key moments. A few kicking errors that she looked really frustrated with and missed a couple of tackles. – (A7/D5/B6/I5) Overall: 6/10
10. Helen Nelson: Carried well, passed well for the most part. Strong in defence once
again, but missed a couple of kicks. – (A8/D7/B6/I6) Overall: 7/10
11. Fran McGhie: Attacked fiercely but a mixed bag in defence. – (A8/D6/B7/I6) Overall: 7/10
12. Lisa Thomson: I love seeing her used as a crash ball centre who also shows great
distribution. Puts in brutal tackles, smashes the breakdown when she needs to, and has a massive boot. Got one kick charged down. Second most tackles, carries and metres carried of the Scotland team. – (A8/D8/B7/I8) Overall: 8/10
13. Emma Orr: Great reading of the game for her try, and set up Chloe Rollie for hers. Defended with her usual gusto. – (A8/D7/B7/I6) Overall: 7/10
14. Rhona Lloyd: A quieter milestone game than she would have hoped for on her 50th appearance, although she opened the door for Emma Orr’s try. Got bundled into touch with a double tackle and missed a couple of tackles herself. – (A7/D5/B7.5/I6) Overall: 6.5/10
15. Chloe Rollie: Fancy feet in attack that led to her excellent try. Not her strongest game in defence. Rescued the ball after Mattinson’s kick was charged down. Her yellow card was upgraded to red, probably fairly. Topped the carrying metres for Scotland again. – (A8/D6/B6/I6) Overall: 6.5/10
Replacements
Rated on Attack, Defence, Breakdown and Impact
16. Elis Martin: Had less than 10 minutes on the pitch but didn’t do much wrong. – (A6/D6/B6/I6) Overall: 6/10
17. Leah Bartlett: Will be pleased with her first scrum of the day! Carried well. Bryan
Easson will have a lovely headache deciding who to start at 1 next week. – (A7/D7/B6/I7) Overall: 7/10
18. Elliann Clarke: Should we start calling winning a scrum penalty immediately off the
bench “Doing A Clarke”? Put in some good hits, too. – (A6/D7/B6/I7) Overall: 6.5/10
19. Fiona McIntosh: Similar to Martin, only had ten minutes and was quietly effective. – (A6/D6/B6/I6) Overall: 6/10
20. Rachel McLachlan: Fierce carries, ferocious tackles, fantastic rucks. – (A6.5/D7/B7/I7) Overall: 7/10
21. Mairi McDonald: Sped up ball from the rucks when she came on and didn’t do much wrong. – (A6/D6/B7/I7) Overall: 6.5/10
22. Meryl Smith: N/A
I imagine she’ll pull the fullback shirt back on against Ireland as
Chloe Rollie will be unavailable due to her red card. – (A6/D6/B6/I6) Overall: 6/10
23. Coreen Grant: N/A – (A6/D6/B6/I6) Overall: 6/10
Ratings by Skye Wilson. Skye is a Scottish writer and rugby fan based in Newcastle. You can read more of Skye’s work on her website at skye-wilson.com or via @skyegwilson on X.
