SCOTLAND coach Philip Doyle has told his squad that they cannot simply try to stop England from playing when the teams meet tomorrow, but must do all they can to impose their own game on the Six Nations match.
The Scots were overawed last year at Twickenham, losing 80-0, but Doyle is confident his players have improved significantly since he took over in the aftermath of that defeat. Yet, even allowing for the possibility that severe weather conditions will have a levelling effect at Scotstoun, the home team will have to play one of their best games to have a chance of anything approaching an upset.
“Eighty-nil is just unacceptable; I’ve said that before,” Doyle said. “They’re a different team this year and they’re really up for the challenge.
“It is all about how we play against England. The one thing we cannot do this weekend is go and try and stop England. It’s not that they’re unstoppable – not like that at all – but we must dictate our Scottish game plan and get them to stop us.
“We have our strengths and they have their weaknesses. If we want to win, we have to score points. How many will that take? I’m not too sure. But the girls are well up for the challenge of having that physicality put against them and trying to get over that try line – and I think we have the tools to do that.”
Injuries to Hannah Smith and Megan Gaffney have forced Doyle into two changes from the team that began last Sunday’s 18-14 defeat by Ireland at Donnybrook. Evie Tonkin comes in on the left wing as a replacement for Gaffney, while Sarah Law is promoted off the bench to start at stand-off, Helen Nelson moves from 10 to 12, and Lisa Thomson takes Smith’s 13 jersey. Law’s uncapped sister Rachel, comes on to the bench, as does the experienced Heriot’s winger Annabel Sergeant.
“Hannah was carrying a very small injury into the last game and we knew it was touch and go for this game,” Doyle said. “So really it was precautionary giving her a rest for a couple of weeks to get her fully fit for Italy. We have great experience with Helen and Lisa in the centres, and I’ve been really impressed with Evie going back into the Spanish game.”
Scotland (v England at Scotstoun, tomorrow 12.10pm, live on BBC Alba): C Rollie; R Lloyd, L Thomson,
H Nelson, E Tonkin; S Law, M McDonald; L Bartlett,
L Skeldon, M Forsyth, E Wassell, S Bonar, R Malcolm (captain), R McLachlan, J Konkel.
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