EMMA Wassell’s run of more than 50 consecutive internationals for Scotland will come to an end on Sunday after she was omitted from the team to face France because of injury. Louise McMillan takes over at lock for the TikTok Six Nations match at Scotstoun, while the other change from the line-up that began the last match against Wales sees Chloe Rollie return at full-back.
Shona Campbell, who wore the No 15 jersey instead of Rollie in the 24-19 defeat in Cardiff, is unavailable this week because of illness. Hannah Smith, a late substitute then, is also unavailable.
Wassell has been an ever-present for Scotland since making her debut back in 2014, and has 54 caps to date. But Scotland coach Bryan Easson insisted he had faith in McMillan, who partnered Wassell in the first round against England when Sarah Bonar was unavailable.
“Emma Wassell has a wrist injury that we know just giving her a rest for a couple of week will get her back in contention for the Italy and Ireland matches,” Easson said. “It is nothing major, it is just the right thing to do ahead of the next few weeks. Louise McMillan is a fantastic player who fully deserves her spot in the starting line-up this week.”
Scotland were 19-7 up at one point against Wales, and could have been further ahead, so it is no surprise that a lot of emphasis this week in training has been on converting more chances into points. “I think we performed well for the first 50 minutes and created a lot of chances while demonstrating a strong defensive effort at the same time,” Easson continued.
“We’ve spoken this week about being a lot more clinical and working a little bit harder off the ball to make sure those running lines are more detailed for the match this weekend.”
Sarah Law returns to the bench and could win her 50th cap if she comes on. Katie Dougan is also among the replacements after dropping out shortly before the Wales game, and takes over from Anne Young.
France, who beat Italy 39-6 in round one then defeated Ireland 40-5, have made nine changes to their starting line-up, an indication of the strength in depth that they believe they can draw on.
Scotland (v France at Scotstoun on Sunday, 1pm): C Rollie; R Lloyd, E Orr, L Maxwell, M Gaffney; H Nelson, J Maxwell; L Bartlett, L Skeldon, C Belisle, L McMillan, S Bonar, R Malcolm (captain), E Gallagher, J Konkel. Substitutes: J Rettie, M Wright, K Dougan, L O’Donnell, R McLachlan, C Mattinson, S Law, M Smith.
France: E Boulard; M Castel, M Ménager, C Jacquet, M Llorens; J Trémoulière, L Sansus; A Deshaye, L Touyé, A Khalfaoui, C Ferer, M Fall, J Annery, G Hermet (captain), E Gros. Substitutes: C Domain, C Lindelauf, C Joyeux, S N’Diaye, 20. R Ménager, A Chambon, M Peyronnet, G Vernier.