Key events
The teams are out, and we now have rain to add to the wind.
The weather forecast for 3pm is 97% rain and 44mph wind. Spicy!
“We’re not benchmarking ourselves against England or France,” says Bryan Easson on the BBC, while being buffeted by the wind. “But we will benchmark our performances [against them].”
“Experience is important today, especially with the weather … we’ll have to manage the game.”
Sarah Hunter, now an England assistant coach, has a quick chat with the BBC. She is mic-ed up while out on the pitch helping with their warm-up.
“It’s a bit blustery but the same for both sides,” Hunter says of the strong winds in Edinburgh. “We’ve got a plan for playing with the wind and against it … our half-backs will control that for us.
“Marlie hasn’t been dropped. She’s gone on to the bench. It’s not based on performance … it’s horses for courses and Marlie has got a great role to play when she comes off the bench.”
The England lock Rosie Galligan has a remarkable back story:
This weekend’s other matches in the Women’s Six Nations are:
Ireland v Wales (4.45pm today)
France v Italy (12.30pm tomorrow)
Here’s hoping that France v Italy is as exciting as the men’s version:
Any thoughts on today’s match? Feel free to email me.
Kick-off is coming up at 2.15pm BST.
Sarah Rendell previews today’s match. Is this a New England, in view of the new head coach John Mitchell taking the emphasis away from the driving maul?
“The fallow week presented a moment to reflect on the opening rounds and grow the elements of our game,” the England head coach, John Mitchell, was quoted as saying on the RFU website.
“Our learnings all build towards evolving our performance. We are looking forward to building on this and taking another step forward together against Scotland this weekend.”
Teams
Lana Skeldon, the hooker, and full-back Chloe Rollie return for Scotland, along with Meryl Smith in the centres. For England the headline is the captain, Marlie Packer, starting on the replacements’ bench: Abbie Ward and Amy Cokayne come in with Zoe Aldcroft switching to blindside flanker and taking the captain’s armband. Emily Scarratt is sidelined by a calf injury.
Scotland: Rollie; Lloyd, Orr, Smith, Grant; Nelson, Mattinson; Bartlett, Skeldon, Belisle, Wassell, McMillan, Malcolm (capt.), Stewart, Gallagher. Replacements: Wright, Martin, Clarke, McIntosh, McLachlan, McDonald, Thomson, McGhie.
England: Kildunne; Dow, Jones, Heard, Breach; Aitchison, Hunt; Botterman, Cokayne, Muir, Galligan, Ward, Aldcroft (capt.), Kabeya, Matthews. Replacements: Powell, Carson, Clifford, Feaunati, M Packer, L Packer, Harrison, Gregson.
Referee: Clara Munarini (Ita)
Preamble
Who can stop England? The Red Roses have won 26 straight Women’s Six Nations matches and are two from two in this year’s tournament under their new head coach, John Mitchell. They have won five consecutive titles and victory today would keep them on course for a grand slam.
Today’s hosts last defeated England in 1999, so the head-to-head record is hardly encouraging, but on the plus side they will have a Scottish record crowd for women’s rugby cheering them on: Edinburgh’s Hive Stadium is sold out and will be packed with 7,774 supporters (mostly) praying for a win over the Auld Enemy.
Bryan Easson’s Scotland recorded a narrow victory against Wales in their opening fixture before impressing defensively in a 15-5 loss to France. Mitchell’s England have been aiming to play a more expansive game, so home defending will definitely need to be on point. “If we stick to the gameplan we want to play we have got nothing to worry about,” said Scotland’s full-back, Ellie Rollie, this week. Scotland have won two of their past three home matches, and belief won’t be an issue, but a powerful England team remain heavy favourites.
Kick-off: 2.15pm BST
