RWC 2025: Scotland 38-8 Wales
The one thing we were sure of before this match was that it would be tight, even if as Scotland fans, we may have feared this would lead to heartbreak and a campaign that was in jeopardy after one match. None of this appeared to be in the minds of Francesca McGhie and her teammates as they stormed to their biggest ever win against Wales and got their World Cup off to a flyer. Here are some talking points.
Relentless McGhie shines
This was a multi-faceted and impressive performance from the still young star winger Francesca McGhie, who surely had the game of her international career so far.
The most eye-catching part was of course her hat-trick of tries. For the first, she had a good break up the line to gain field position and then when the ball was worked to her again, with Helen Nelson and McGhie staying far more alert than the Welsh defence, she beat two defenders to score. Her second was the easiest finish, but she works well as part of a group of backs flashing round into space to get in a great position. The third was perhaps her best finish with pace seeing her gliding past two defenders, making a half chance look like an inevitable score.
Then there was her other work in attack. There was a brilliant break in midfield, from excellent team play, in the 30th minute, taking Scotland from their own half into the Wales 22 which eventually led to the Leia Brebner-Holden try (Scotland’s third), with another good carry in the later build up to that score. Any time she had ball in hand, she seemed to be making metres and beating defenders.
Meanwhile her defensive hustle and kick chase was also critical to Scotland staying on top in the game. In the first half, she put in three crucial tackles.
A clever piece of play from Lleucu George put Jasmine Joyce-Butchers away for a rare line break, and it was McGhie who hunted and hauled Joyce-Butchers down. Possibly the only other bit of inventive attack from Wales in the first half saw Net Metcalfe put an excellent chip and regather in behind the Scottish defence; it was McGhie to the rescue, getting to Metcalfe and disrupting the Wales attack.
With Scotland withstanding pressure from Wales in the closing moments before half time, McGhie and Nelson teamed up to end a Welsh attack by muscling winger Lisa Neumann into touch. On top of that, earlier in the half, her determination on the kick chase forced a knock on from George, making sure Scotland kept Wales pinned back in their own half and constantly under pressure. This continued in the second half with her charge down of George after Scotland’s kick off, giving her team the advantage right at the start of the second period and setting the tone for that half.
For all that there were star performances and excellence across the Scotland 23 – several who also deserve multiple paragraphs of praise – McGhie was utterly superb in both attack and defence and fully deserving of her player of the match award.
Laochs across the pitch
One of Scotland’s key watchwords is laoch, for each female warrior out on the pitch. That spirit was everywhere throughout the team, with so many stories of players overcoming and powering through. Of course, the most notable was Emma Wassell, playing a year to the day since she was diagnosed with a tumour in her chest. If proof of her heart for the battle was needed, she was off after a couple of minutes for a blood substitution, returning to play the rest of her match with stitches across her cheek. Another who has overcome recent aversity was Alex Stewart, showing no signs of the effects of both coeliac disease and type 1 diabetes that had interrupted her Women’s Six Nations campaign, as she ran through walls at her energetic best.
Jade Konkel, Sarah Bonar and McGhie had all been injured a few weeks ago and missed the warm up matches (Scotland lost both) but all had stormers here. After the Ireland game, both Lana Skeldon and Elis Martin appeared to be doubts for the tournaments. We feared the worst when Skeldon went down or was limping severely but she soldiered on. And when Martin came on, she played like a demon, running at and through everything.
Maybe the person who most epitomised what it means to be a laoch for this team was Elliann Clarke. Aside from leaving the pitch for an HIA, the tighthead prop played until the 75th minute, but during the match seemed to need regular treatment for injuries during the second half. And every time you thought that this time she would need to leave the field, she got herself up again and carried on and was magnificent. She made 9 carries, the most by a front row on either side, and 16 tackles, the latter Scotland’s second highest, two of them dominant. She was still on the pitch, facing a refreshed and strong substitute Welsh front row, when she was part of the Scottish scrum that won a crucial penalty ahead of the Gallagher try. Her relentless commitment was matched by all her teammates, but there was something so indefatigable that stood out in what was another youngster having the performance of her international career to date.
Bravery and brilliance in attack
It was hard to know what to expect from Scotland in attack, with Steve Shingler so recently installed as attack coach and, as we found out after in Bryan Easson’s post match interview, a lot being held back from the warm up games. But Scotland took their chances, in a way that we haven’t always seen in recent games.
Their kicking game was mostly excellent, with Wales having to field so many high balls just outside their 22 or getting turned by lower long kicks that constantly stopped them getting into game, but even more impressive was how good the ball in hand attack looked, particularly when Scotland entered the Wales 22.
Easson also mentioned after the match he was aware that the ground was the third widest in the Premiership, and Scotland made sure to make the most of that width. When they could see it was on, they were not afraid to run it quickly through the hands or throw a miss pass to get their back three running down the edges. When they were in the 22, they were brave and bold in playing flat to the line and Brebner-Holden and Caity Mattinson both fizzed passes from the base to pick out a player who could carry right into the Welsh defence, or cut a brilliant line as both Gallagher and Orr did for their tries, with the ball on a plate. This boldness also meant the Welsh defence was over working when it came to the Brebner-Holden try, creating the brief gap that the scrum-half dotted through.
Another feature was the way that players were constantly in motion, making it so hard for the Welsh players to make good decisions, and you can see it for pretty much every try or line break. Several times, Rhona Lloyd or McGhie were off their wing and moving with the centres and Rollie to flood space at pace on one side of the pitch or the other. It was key to more than one try, such as when the defence was contracted in the build up to McGhie’s second, leaving Thomson and McGhie in acres of space, or when Lloyd was on hand to fix a defender or two on her opposite wing and feed McGhie for her hat trick. And for the Gallagher try, the clever set play means after a couple of good carries, there are so many options for the scrum half, including Wassell, Konkel and Gallagher all realistic options to carry hard, with Stewart providing another distraction as she runs out the same pod but in the opposite direction, and backs floating behind in the defence’s eyeline too. Mattinson spots that Gallagher will be one on one with George and fires the ball perfectly for her to get over the line with maximum power and momentum.
There were other minor details, such as Nelson seeming to take the running option more often than we see her do for Scotland (although she often does for Loughborough), which added to more uncertainty for the Welsh defence as she was a triple run-kick-pass threat throughout. When it functioned, there always seemed to be a very smart set play strike move off every line out which gave Scotland plenty of momentum. This really was the clinical attack that we sometimes only see in glimpses but which this time delivered six brilliant tries.
Scotland boss their old playground bullies
Until a couple of years ago, it really seemed that Wales had the physical edge over Scotland, and even in recent victories, it was probably more physical parity, but with better attacking play from the backs. It was partly this that has caused some needle between the teams and made it Scotland’s grudge match. But for much of this match, the tables were turned and it was Scotland who were often the physically dominant team. In particular, their post-contact metres were so impressive – 100 to 21 in the first half, 264 to 139 overall. It seemed like there would be many passages where their carries were dominant and the Welsh could not keep them quiet. Meanwhile, Scotland’s line speed and aggression was doing a better job of stopping Welsh momentum and slowing down their ball at lot more. This ability to make physical carry after carry and suck in the Welsh defence until it contracted was part of the platform that allowed for the excellent play to go wide, no more notably than in the build up to the second try. These two teams can be confidence teams but it gave the sense that Scotland were on top and likely to break through, in a way that Wales could rarely find or put together for sustained periods. And even in the place where they struggled most, the scrum, they still pulled it together for a brilliant scrum penalty against the head which led immediately to Gallagher’s try.
Scotland yet to hit their ceiling
As brilliant as this performance was – one of the best I can think of – the team will also be heartened that there is more they can improve on.
The scrum and line out will need to be at their best in their upcoming matches against Fiji and Canada. Their discipline wasn’t the best, conceding 11 penalties, although they turned this round in the second half, when only 4 came – conversely the majority of Wales’ penalties were second half.
The lineout was a great platform when it worked, but it didn’t function perfectly. They were probably turned over a little more than usual, and a lot more than they would like. There was also the odd error in concentration or moment where more composure was needed. But these aren’t to be criticisms of the performance, more to say that there are fixable issues meaning that this performance can be a stepping stone to a new height, rather than the ceiling.
There are two strong teams to come in the pool stages, but Scotland can move forward with real belief and confidence knowing that the first tough job is not just done, but with a performance to genuinely celebrate and build on.
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