England 40 Scotland 8
Scotland’s brave World Cup campaign came to a shuddering halt against tournament favourites England.
And captain Rachel Malcolm warned the women’s game in this country is at a ‘very pivotal point’ after it emerged Scottish Rugby will retain only 15 of the 32-strong squad on full-time contracts.
England’s power game was far too much for Scotland to deal with at Ashton Gate as Bryan Easson’s time as head coach came to an end with a 40-8 defeat.
Scotland overcame Wales and Fiji on their way to the quarter-finals but, with head coach Easson standing down and the likes of experienced duo Jade Konkel and Lisa Cockburn retiring, it will be difficult for them to build on this success.
‘We’re at a very pivotal point,’ Malcolm said. ‘We have had a core group for the best part of 10 years now as Scotland women and we’ve grown hugely and it kind of feels like we are just on the crest of something pretty special.
Scotland’s Molly Poolman, Emma Orr and Chloe Rollie applaud the fans at full-time
Sarah Bonnar catches the ball during Scotland’s quarter-final clash with England
Scotland’s Rachel McLachlan tackles Rosie Galligan of England
‘The 32 players that have been at this World Cup have shown that with support and having people training in full-time environments with excellent coaches just how far we can go.
‘What I want to see for the future of this game is that support to not decrease but continue.
‘I think to do that we need to just keep driving it, we need to keep challenging it and use this as a springboard into the next phase of Scotland women.’
When asked what CEO Alex Williamson, performance director David Nucifora and the rest of the hierarchy at Scottish Rugby can do to help the women’s game progress and not stall or go backwards, the skipper stated: ‘Just to listen.
‘We (as players) know this game better than anyone. We want to push Scotland women forward. We want to be a part of Scottish rugby. We want to work together to get us to compete with the likes of England.
‘And I think, with the player voice incorporated in that, then we can definitely move this sport forward and this team forward.’
Outgoing head coach Easson added: ‘In three years we’ve gone professional and in three years we’ve gone to fifth in the world and are now sixth. We’ve qualified for two World Cups and we’ve got to the latter stage of a World Cup — that doesn’t happen by accident.
‘You invest and you look after players and you invest in the future and what you want it to look like, you don’t just stop that, you’ve got to keep building on that.
‘Investment is up to the powers that be where they see the future going, but you have to invest.’
Scotland started with great intent in Bristol and after four minutes they took a 3-0 lead thanks to a penalty by stand-off Helen Nelson.
The defence was also strong in the first 10 minutes, forcing England into some uncharacteristic handling errors.
England’s Zoe Aldcroft in action with Helen Nelson of Scotland
Head coach Easson and Scotland captain Malcolm address the media after the game
Scotland players line up for the national anthem before the match at Ashton Gate
However, in the 12th minute they put some good phases together and, eventually, loosehead prop Kelsey Clifford powered over the tryline with stand-off Holly Aitchison converting for 7-3.
A mistake in the Scottish lineout in the 16th minute saw second-row Morwenna Talling go over for England’s second try, with Aitchison converting.
In the 27th minute, England thought they had scored a third via hooker Amy Cockayne following a lineout drive, but it was chalked off by referee Aurelie Groizeleau for an obstruction in the build up.
The tournament hosts grabbed their third try in the 32nd minute through winger Abby Dow, although the scoring pass from Aitchison looked forward. It was not converted and it was 19-3.
A killer blow for the Scots came just before half-time when England bagged their fourth try, Clifford going over for her second with Aitchison converting to make it 26-3 at the interval.
England’s fifth try did come in the 46th minute when Cockayne scored and Aitchison converted for 33-3.
Konkel, the Scotland No 8, then left the field for the last time after announcing her international retirement on Thursday.
As much as they tried, Scotland could not fire a shot in attack and, after a disallowed England try, Aitchison scored the sixth try and converted it to make it 40-3.
At the death, winger Rhona Lloyd scored an unconverted try to show Scotland’s battling spirit.
While going toe to toe with England was always going to be a tall order, Easson and his squad can reflect proudly on their World Cup campaign.
Having lost all three of their group matches at the 2021 edition in New Zealand, Easson’s team triumphed in their opening match with Wales before also claiming the scalp of Fiji to qualify with a game to spare.
It was also a tournament to remember for young winger Francesca McGhie, who scored six tries across Scotland’s first three matches.