EMMA Orr is back in the Scotland line-up to face Ireland on Saturday, replacing Lisa Thomson, who has returned to GB Sevens duty. The outside centre is the only change to the 23 from last week’s 29-21 win over Italy, a game she missed after being concussed against France six days earlier.
“We’ve went for consistency this week in terms of team selection, and after last weekend’s win against Italy, the players deserve the chance to build on that performance,” head coach Bryan Easson said.
“It’s brilliant to see Emma Orr returning for the finale. We know Ireland will throw everything at us, but we know what to expect and will be ready for the challenge. We’ve focussed on ourselves this week and if we get our processes right, the outcome will take care of itself.”
More than 4,000 tickets have now been sold for the match at the DAM Health Stadium, which will make it a record attendance for a Scotland home game in the TikTok Women’s Six Nations. A second bonus-point win in a row would guarantee the Scots fourth place in the final Championship table, while a simple win might be enough, depending on the result of the game earlier in the afternoon between Italy and Wales. The title will be decided in Saturday’s first match, in which England and France, both unbeaten so far, meet at Twickenham.
“Our fans have been a constant source of support through the highs and lows,” captain Rachel Malcolm said. “So to get the opportunity to run out in front of a home record crowd in the last game of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations is a huge boost and we will do everything in our power to make them proud on Saturday.”
Ireland have lost all four of their matches to date, most recently going down 48-0 at home to England. Head coach Greg McWilliams has stuck with the same 15 that started that match, but made a change on the bench, where fit-again Dorothy Wall replaces Jo Brown.
“It has been a challenging Championship but we have learned a huge amount throughout the course of the campaign, and we have seen improvements week on week,” McWilliams said. “The focus now is to put all those learnings to the test and produce our best performance of the season in Edinburgh.
“The group is hugely motivated to finish the Six Nations with a positive performance and result, but we know it will be a huge challenge against a very talented Scotland side who are really building under Bryan Easson. We’re looking forward to a big occasion with a record crowd expected in Edinburgh on Saturday night.”
Scotland (v Ireland at the DAM Health Stadium, Saturday 7.30pm): C Rollie; C Grant, E Orr, M Smith, F McGhie; H Nelson, M McDonald; L Bartlett, L Skeldon, C Belisle, J Konkel-Roberts, L McMillan, R Malcolm (captain), R McLachlan, E Gallagher. Substitutes: J Rettie, A Young, E Clarke, E Donaldson, E Sinclair, C Mattinson, B Blacklock, E Musgrove.
Ireland: L Delany; A Doyle, A Dalton, V Irwin, N Behan; D O’Brien, M Scuffil-McCabe; L Djougang, N Jones, C Haney, N Fryday (captain), S Monaghan, B Hogan, G Moore, D Nic a Bhaird. Substitutes: C Nielson, S McGrath, K Buggy, H O’Connor, D Wall, A Hughes, A McGann, M Deely.