In their showdown with the Wallaroos, Scotland fell apart, fought back, then were finally beaten, missing out on a successful defence of their WXV2 title. Here are the talking points.
Disaster strikes
We might as well start with the bad, the very, very bad, since we can’t ignore it. Those first 25 minutes were probably the worst this Scotland team has played since their game away to France last year. It felt particularly reminiscent of that game when try followed try followed try in quick succession. The first two tries were too easily won by Australia. They certainly shouldn’t have been a surprise as Maya Stewart and Desiree Miller had made the most metres in WXV2; it is no secret that they are lightning finishers.
Scotland were using the defensive tactics that had worked so well against Italy, going for the ball and trying to hold Australia up, but it also meant they were defending quite narrowly and if there was either a mistake or a gap from the slightest bit of disconnection, the opposing wings had a lot of space to capitalise on.
Australia’s backs were impressive, but during this period, there was some uncharacteristically poor organisation or miscommunication and the scramble defence couldn’t keep the Wallaroos out. The third try came mostly down to the vision and skill of the excellent Faitala Moleka but even with this one, part of that came from small gaps in the Scotland defensive line for Moleka to exploit.
Mistakes were also getting compounded. As an example, in the lead up to the first score, an overthrown lineout was followed by two penalties, and then the try came on that latter penalty advantage. Discipline was not great, and if the odd penalty for not rolling away felt a little harsh since the players were getting trapped in, one of the reasons the Scottish player was on the wrong side was because of tackling style.
The other frustration in this period was the wasting of every good attacking opportunity. Scotland missed out with an early lineout just out from the Australian try line and there were several instances of spilled passes or miscommunication on running lines. A statistic on 20 minutes said that Scotland had had 73% territory (although only 34% possession) and yet they were 14-0 down. They were in the right areas of the pitch but not able to make it count by looking after the ball for long enough.
It wasn’t clear exactly what the cause was, perhaps being a bit tentative because of the sense of occasion – we aren’t used to defending titles – or perhaps trying to overplay in the game before there was the platform to do that, but Scotland will know they should have started that game better.
Lineout conundrum continues
Scotland’s first proper attacking lineout ended up with Australia in possession after a complicated move was whistled by the referee. This isn’t the first time this is being mentioned, but Scotland have one of the most intricate lineouts in the women’s game. Whereas most teams in the women’s international game are still keeping it simple, Scotland like to keep all the parts in motion and often throw to the back of the line. I can see what they are trying to achieve and, in theory, if this all comes together, it will be one of the hardest lineouts to defend. It has the potential to be an incredible weapon, either direct for the driving maul or as a platform set piece for the attack. If it clicks during the World Cup, then all this frustration will have been worth it.
But that is a lot of ifs.
Australia’s maul defence is not the best – as seen against South Africa – and Scotland had a few successes in making metres from a driving maul. I’m not fully convinced the risk / reward balance is right at the moment.
That first attacking lineout was a case in point. First it had to be retaken because the referee wasn’t happy with the movement. And when it was retaken, Lisa Thomson and Francesca McGhie were involved as a dummy pod who suddenly exit, and Eva Donaldson seemed to be having a ceilidh, she had so many moves in and out. I genuinely have no issue with ambition and experimentation towards next year, but surely early in the match is a good time put a mark down with a safer and more solid drill which, if the maul gets going, could lead to a try or penalty.
It marked a chance to spark some early momentum for Scotland and put Australia under pressure. Scotland were surely hoping for a try or two from that set piece, and after the first one went wrong, looked really frustrated. Instead of getting early dominance, it was a chance wasted and all it sparked was Scotland unravelling.
Fightback gives hope
In the France game mentioned earlier, Scotland went scoreless and it took until the next game against Italy to show who they really are. One real positive from this weekend’s game was that they regrouped almost immediately, and showed so much heart and fighting spirit to get back into this. Heads really could have gone down, especially with the penalty count against them.
It shouldn’t be overlooked that Scotland fought back from 21-0 down to take the lead.
You could see the determination and will to win in pretty much every action after Australia got their third try. It began with two excellent tackles by McGhie and Emma Orr who definitely stopped two line breaks and possibly two tries. The second of these was followed by some excellent counter rucking which won Scotland a penalty.
This show of determination seemed to give Scotland the boost they needed and the Australian defence came under some pressure at last. Some properly fearsome carries built towards Scotland’s first try.
Even when down to thirteen, there were still some pretty impressive defensive sets and tackling, with Meryl Smith doing herself some damage getting a storming Eva Karpani into touch and the wider team racking up tackle after tackle – with Jade Konkel managing 14 tackles in her 25 minutes on the pitch and Anne Young the same number in only a few minutes more on the field.
At the very least Scotland should take learnings and confidence from this should they find themselves behind in future.
A try scoring bonus point at last
The expected maul tries didn’t arrive, but Scotland did score some good team tries. The first from Leah Bartlett followed good carries to get Scotland up the field and then the forwards used their power to get up to and over the line.
The second try came from a great kick from Thomson which put Australia under real pressure and a great counter attack by Coreen Grant from Australia’s attempted clearance. The team then worked well to get the ball across the field and, with Australia down to 14, the space was eaten up by Evie Gallagher and Chloe Rollie.
Anne Young’s try was the cumulation of a long passage of pressure where line out and maul finally came off. Scotland showed lots of energy in the carries, especially double carries and excellent forward pressure broke through the Wallaroos defence. For the final try, Scotland got field position from some really good interplay in the backs with Smith feeding a perfect pass for Rollie to break the line. The pace and tempo in the carries helped contract the defence and find width for McGhie who finished well.
Scotland showed what they could do when they didn’t force things and played with really good speed and tempo, patience and accuracy. If they can get the line out fully functioning and a platform for tries, then Scotland will be a danger to pretty much any defence.
Where does the WXV leave Scotland
When Scotland just missed out on qualification for WXV1, Rachel Malcolm pointed out that being in WXV2 wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as it would give the team a space to tries things out on the pitch.
Scotland didn’t seem to be playing tournament rugby, as I don’t recall a single penalty attempt on goal over the three matches. Clearly the focus is on getting everything else clicking for next year.
Last year’s win was the confidence booster that they needed, this year was about continuing to grow depth and build the attacking and defensive identity. The only issue I can see with this: Saturday’s match was a winner-takes-all all final, and the closest equivalent that Scotland will have to knock-out rugby ahead of the World Cup, and that is also a skill that needs practice, based on this showing at least.
All of that doesn’t mean Scotland aren’t in a good place.
They are going for a high-risk, high-reward defensive structure of targeting the ball with two players, which can really slow down teams, although we did also see the risk on Saturday when it goes wrong. The tempo of the attack has gone up another notch, the ball certainly seemed quicker and it was being kept alive a lot more. The detail in the attack is more and more evident every match.
The line out has potential to be a point of difference, but is another area where Scotland are going high-risk.
Discipline is also an area of worry – Scotland conceded 37 penalties across the three matches, which gives the opposition way too much, but that is something that should be fixable. The most exciting thing is Scotland now have enough depth to have several first choice XVs (or indeed 23s) which means they can pick a team best suited to the opposition on the day without any worry of drop in quality.
There are definitely work-ons, and they are far from the finished product, but for all Saturday wasn’t Scotland’s day, they are in a good place going into 2025.
