Other than a few positional changes, Scotland Women head coach, Jules Maxton, has shown faith in the same 23 person squad, who lost to Ireland in the opening Six Nations tie, to take on England this coming Sunday (February 9).
Maxton has made three changes to the starting XV as prop Heather Lockhart, scrum-half Louise Dalgliesh and centre Laura Steven, have been promoted from the bench to face the Auld Enemy at Rubislaw (2pm).
Lockhart takes the loose-head jersey as captain Tracy Balmer moves into the tight-head berth, Dalgliesh gets the nod ahead of Sarah Law and Steven starts as inside centre, in turn moving Gillian Inglis to 13 and Annabel Sergeant to the right wing.
Ruth Slaven and Tess Forsberg have also reversed roles as the former plays on the blindside flank, the latter the openside.
Speaking to scottishrugby.org, Scotland hooker, Sarah Quick, said, “There’s a great rivalry between ourselves and England, everyone wants to pull on the shirt and give it their all in these clashes. s a new setting for us. Hopefully, we can get a good crowd who will get behind us and create a fantastic atmosphere for the game.”
“From last week, we’ve learned that we need to bring a high level of intensity from the very first whistle. In the last quarter of the Ireland match, we really upped our game and competed well, we’ve just got to make sure we carry this on to play England. At the end of the day, there’s two teams, one ball, one game, it’s who can be the most physical and show the greatest desire, who will come out on top.”
Admission to the game, kicking off at 2pm, will be free of charge. The match will also be streamed live on Scottish Rugby’s YouTube channel. Visit www.scottishrugby.org
Scotland team
15. Stephanie Johnston (Worcester)
14. Annabel Sergeant (Richmond)
13. Gillian Inglis (Melrose)
12. Laura Steven (Murrayfield Wanderers)
11. Megan Gaffney (Hillhead-Jordanhill)
10. Lisa Martin (Murrayfield Wanderers)
9. Louise Dalgliesh (RHC Cougars)
1. Heather Lockhart (Hillhead-Jordanhill)
2. Sarah Quick (Murrayfield Wanderers)
3. Tracy Balmer (Worcester) CAPTAIN
4. Jade Konkel (Hillhead-Jordanhill)
5. Deborah McCormack (Richmond)
6. Ruth Slaven (Murrayfield Wanderers)
7. Tess Forsberg (Richmond)
8. Lindsay Wheeler (Saracens)
Replacements:
16. Nikki McLeod (Stirling County)
17. Lindsey Smith (Hillhead-Jordanhill)
18. Lisa Robertson (Murrayfield Wanderers)
19. Emma Wassel (Murrayfield Wanderers)
20. Anna Stodter (Loughborough University)
21. Sarah Law (Murrayfield Wanderers)
22. Tanya Griffith (RHC Cougars)
23. Katy Green (Darlington Mowden Park)
