Amongst the bombardment of England tries, Scotland produced several key moments in their 58-7 defeat in Newcastle that the squad can build upon in this Six Nations campaign.
While the experience, investment and depth that is behind this Red Roses outfit brought the hosts 10 tries, Scotland’s injury-hampered attack was sparked into life by a set of backs that despite their lack of game time, frequently imposed themselves on England’s battle-hardened back line.
Chloe Rollie, the winger who plies her trade at Loughborough Lighting alongside Scotland’s captain Rachel Malcolm, scored her side’s only try in the dying stages of Saturday’s match.
Rollie said: “Leading up to it we were just building and building and we were giving it all that we had and it comes down to being brave and courageous like we want to be and building the phases here.
“There was nothing to lose, so we just went all out and it was just about trying to take moments when they came and spotting the way they were defending and how we could get on top of that and we just wanted to play.
“We know we have these tools in the bag and we can play and we can throw the ball around as much as England and other teams can.” The winger believes a new partnership will have a lot to offer in this year’s championship.
“With Fran [Francesca McGhie] and Coreen [Grant] on the wings it is an opportunity to take ownership and be a leader in that position and help them out when they need it. Speaking to them and saying maybe we can help each other out if we do this and there was ownership in doing that.
“It is important to help people out and keep them ticking over so that they can be brave and play the game that we want to play and the game they want to play as individuals. I’ll always have their backs, definitely.”
Rollie found herself stepping up into a leadership position at Kingston Park to guide her young centres and wingers who had just 11 senior caps between the four of them.
Rollie moved to Loughborough in January following her World Cup journey being cruelly cut short with an arm injury.
“It was good to get back in a Scotland shirt, it was massive for me, when I got the injury,” she said. “I was a bit worried about how things were going to pan out, but I now just want to play some fun rugby as this Scotland squad keeps growing.
“I have settled in well at Loughborough, everyone has been great, it feels like I’m playing for Scotland down there anyway! [as there are seven Scots there].”
Since last year’s World Cup, Scotland have lost Lisa Thomson, Shona Campbell and, Rhona Lloyd to the Great Britain Sevens squad so McGhie has stepped up into a squad that is without some of their most talismanic and reliable playmakers.
Fellow debutant, Beth Blacklock made an impactful start off the bench coming on to bolster Scotland’s attack.
Scotland’s head coach Bryan Easson said: “[They have been] excellent additions to the squad. Fran has been really nervous all week, understandably, and just to see a young kid, 19, perform the way she did was excellent.
“She had a real good chance. Her one on one was excellent she got on the outside, she made a couple of mistakes, but these things happen and the good thing was she just brushed them off and got on with the rest of the game and her head didn’t go down.
“Beth came on and gave us something, she had a good line break from our own line and again when you look at it, Eva Donaldson was on her shoulder, and people like Eva coming in and Beth coming in really push us forward nicely for the future.”
Scotland’s young players showed raw potential and a snapshot of what could come as this team continue to develop.
However, Scotland are years behind the Red Roses and for 75 minutes it was one way traffic for England.
While Scottish Rugby announced professional contracts for 28 players, the changes required will take time, effort and patience from the national governing body.
Until Scotland have allowed these changes to fully come to fruition, Malcolm’s squad will continue to be written off against their English counterparts.
Rollie noted: “There is always frustration if you cannot capitalise on opportunities early on in games and sometimes that is just the way it is, you just have to keep your head in the game.
“As a whole squad we were frustrated, but late on we were like ‘let’s just take it now, let’s just go’ and show what we have got.”
