‘Beating Canada can open up World Cup for Scots’

Pool B of the Rugby World Cup for Women: Canada v. Scotland

Date: Saturday, September 6th, 2019 Kick-off: 12:00 BST

According to head coach Bryan Easson, a victory over Canada will help Scotland advance to the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Both teams are confident of reaching the quarter-finals when they meet in Exeter on Saturday.

The winner of Pool B will likely avoid facing hosts and tournament favorites England in the final eight. Easson believes Saturday’s showdown presents a “huge opportunity” for his players, despite Scotland being a “big underdog” against the world number two Canadian side.

“This game has provided us with a real opportunity to mark the World Cup,” said the team.

We made it very clear right away that we were going to the end stages before we could compete with other people.

We are in the latter stages, and this is a great opportunity for us to continue making progress, according to the team’s statement.

With tighthead Lisa Cockburn and hooker Lana Skeldon starting, Scotland have made two changes to their front row following last weekend’s defeat of Fiji.

Elliann Clarke misses out on the bench, while Elis Martin drops to the bench. Clarke was replaced by Cockburn in the win over Fiji last weekend.

Jade Konkel will replace Lock Sarah Bonar on a bench of 6-2 while Jade Konkel will earn her 50th cap.

Easson is aware of the magnitude of the challenge facing a Canada side that has already won matches against Fiji and Wales.

He thinks that Pool B, where his team already excelled, helped them be well prepared.

Easson, who will step down as Scotland’s head coach after the tournament, said, “We’ve played against two sides of two different styles.”

“Playing Fiji last week was actually a really good experience for us because we were very physically challenged, which is also Canada’s strength.”

According to their estimates, Canada also plays fairly similarly to Fiji in terms of, believe it or not, offloading more, so they actually offload more than them.