A Celtic Warm-Up
First the teams:
Scotland
15 Chloe Rollie 14 Coreen Grant 13 Emma Orr 12 Meryl Smith 11 Francesca McGhie 10 Helen Nelson 9 Mairi McDonald 1 Leah Bartlett 2 Lana Skeldon 3 Christine Belisle 4 Fi McIntosh 5 Sarah Bonar 6 Rachel Malcolm (captain) 7 Alex Stewart 8 Evie Gallagher
16 Elis Martin 17 Anne Young 18 Elliann Clarke 19 Louise McMillan 20 Eva Donaldson 21 Jade Konkel 22 *Leia Brebner-Holden 23 *Lucia Scott
*uncapped
Wales
15 Jenny Hesketh, 14 Catherine Richards, 13 Meg Webb, 12 Kerin Lake, 11 Jasmine Joyce, 10 Robyn Wilkins, 9 Keira Bevan (captain), 1 Gwenllian Pyrs, 2 Molly Reardon, 3 Sisilia Tuipulotu, 4 Natalia John, 5 Gwen Crabb, 6 Kate Williams, 7 Bethan Lewis, 8 Gwennan Hopkins
16 *Rosie Carr, 17 *Maisie Davies, 18 Donna Rose, 19 *Alaw Pyrs, 20 Alisha Butchers, 21 Sian Jones, 22 Lleucu George, 23 Nel Metcalfe
*uncapped
Choices
Both head coaches are taking the long view to this WXV warm-up. Bryan Easson and Ioan Cunningham want to check the field, so leave a handful of leading players on the bench, while introducing new faces who have impressed in the Celtic Challenge and the U20s Summer Series.
The one surprise in the Scottish line-up is the 6/2 split between forwards and backs. It’s common enough these days, but not when both those backs are debuting. Perhaps Jade Konkel fancies a run out in the centre.
For Wales it means offering Keira Bevan her first captaincy in the absence of Hannah Jones. Gwen Crabb makes a welcome reappearance, and we may have the rare sight of sisters (not twins) on the field at the same time. Alaw Pyrs is one of three Welsh players who should get their first call to arms.
For the home team Louise McMillan and Konkel also return from lengthy injuries; they will sit together on the bench. One indication of Scotland’s recent advance is that Konkel’s absence in the No 8 shirt has been far less traumatic than we might have expected. Evie Gallagher has really impressed. Sarah Bonar, in a similar position to McMillan and Konkel, will start at lock alongside Fi McIntosh, the least experienced of the established players with two caps.
I’m delighted to see Alex Stewart still listed as playing for Corstorphine Cougars. Such was her form last season that I expected an eager PWR club to sign her on at the first opportunity.
Outlook
Scotland have home advantage to add to their inner ring of confidence. A run of seven wins is unparalled in their history, and they have a second chance to stretch their legs next week against Fijiana.
It was no surprise that Wales failed to retain their pace in WXV1, but they did well to avoid a plummeting drop to WXV3. We’ll discover how successful Cunningham and his staff have been in bolstering confidence in a team that hasn’t had its troubles to seek.
Although both nations will compete in WXV2 in South Africa, they will not meet each other. That may seem obvious, but both are due to play fellow Six Nationers, Italy.
Details:
Friday 6 September
The Hive, Edinburgh
KO 19.35 BST
Coverage: BBC Alba (possibly others?)
