‘Scots undervalued and tired but eye England upset’

To the world outside their bubble, it’s not just mission improbable, it’s mission impossible.

When Scotland face England in the quarter-final of the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Bristol on Sunday, they will be looking to pull off, arguably, the greatest upset in the history of the game – women and men.

The Scots have not beaten the English, overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy, since 1999 and the average score in their last 10 meetings shows a near 50-point gap.

“There is zero expectation on us,” former Scotland captain Lisa Martin says on this week’s Scotland Rugby Podcast. “We’re the underdogs. We’re in the position that we thrive in. Just go and make it a spectacle.

“This is the best rugby I’ve seen Scotland play in the past decade. We’re talking about these players as threats and you’d like to think that England are actually looking at individuals now rather than just dismissing Scotland and being like, ‘Ah, well, it’s a given’.

“History, obviously, isn’t in our favour, but just try and spoil the party.”

“You want this moment to not just be a flash in the pan, you want this to be the start of a legacy.” she says.

“But it’s a little bit scary because this team has been so reliant on this core group of players with 60, 70, 80-plus caps and they are going to start moving away from rugby and how do you then replace them?”

Asked if the current Scotland squad feels respected and valued by Scottish Rugby in the wake of the contracts controversy that blew up pre-tournament, Martin suggests: “Maybe not fully. There’s definitely a feeling of being undervalued, or just not respected to the levels that they feel they should be.”

While preparing for the World Cup, some of the Scotland squad were told that their contracts were not getting renewed by the SRU.

The timing was awful and it caused consternation internally. Captain Rachel Malcolm expressed the views of her squad when heavily criticising the decision.

“There’s definitely girls who are getting tired – physically, emotionally, mentally,” Martin said. “Speaking to the girls after the game on Saturday [an honourable loss to world number two Canada], parts of them just want this tournament to be over.

“They just want to be away from the noise for a little bit because it’s been so draining for them. Yeah, I think there’s definitely a sense of unhappiness still rumbling.”

The Scotland team have had some outstanding performers. Francesca McGhie is joint-top try scorer on six and ranks second for metres gained. Evie Gallagher is the leading tackler in the tournament and her captain, Rachel Malcolm, is third.

Even in defeat against the heavyweight Canadians, Scotland produced some terrific rugby, the best we’ve seen from them in years. On television, England’s 2014 World Cup-winning captain, Katy Daley-McLean, has said that Scotland are playing well in spite of their governing body and not because of it.

It’s a sentiment that Martin finds hard to disagree with. The former fly-half is also critical of player management within the squad, stating that the players should be treated as people first and players second.

“At the end of the day, we’re people, we’re not robots.” she says.

Head coach Bryan Easson is leaving his position after the World Cup and there is still some dubiety about whether it was his decision or not.

Martin said on the podcast that the Scotland players will have mixed feelings about Easson’s departure, but she’s sure that it’s the right time for him to go.

“You’ve got some [players] that get on really well with him and will be quite upset,” she says. “But there’ll be some that will be like, ‘you know what, it’s actually maybe not the worst thing in the world’.

“From a personal point of view, I’m quite happy that he’s moving on and I think it’s the right thing to do and it’s the right time to do it. I think it needs someone else in there that is more of a people-person.”

Martin was joined by BBC rugby commentator Sara Orchard, who broke the story before the tournament about disquiet in the Scotland camp around the contracts situation.

Some World Cup players went into the competition knowing that they had no deal at the end of it and that their career as a professional athlete was effectively over.

Martin and Orchard preview what should be a momentous game in Bristol, but they also turned to the bigger picture in Scottish rugby – and, in their eyes, it’s far from healthy.

“When you live south of the border, everyone here is talking about the legacy of this World Cup,” Orchard says. “I’m not hearing so much of what the legacy planning is for Scotland.

“I don’t know how prepared Scottish rugby is for what Scotland women look like in the next four years, because we haven’t heard anything.”

Looking to Sunday, there is a sense that England, though hammering all-comers, still haven’t fully hit their stride as an attacking force at this World Cup. Pity the team that’s on the end of it when it comes.

Scotland have taken a leap forward these past weeks and it’s a shot at nothing against England. Their story has to go beyond Sunday, though.