Chance to make history is powerful motivator for Scotland going into first Australia game

There is little between the sides according to the World Rugby rankings, with the Scots in eighth place and the Aussies ninth ahead of this Saturday’s first meeting in Edinburgh. They will then travel south next month for further Test matches in Sydney and Canberra.

The games are part of the 2026 WXV Global Series and both teams are chasing their first win after back-to-back defeats. Scotland went down heavily at home to Canada and New Zealand, ranked third and second in the world, respectively. Australia lost away to England and France, ranked first and fourth.

Robbie Fergusson, one of Scotland’s assistant coaches, has praised the squad’s resilience after two tough games under new interim head coach Dave Butcher.

“They've gone through a lot of different things, whether it's off the field or on the field,” said Butcher. “And they just want to be the best Scottish team they can be.

Carrot dangling in front of squad

“So we're all aware of the challenge that we had in those first two games. We're not hiding away from them. But the group are so motivated now into these three games that I think the motivation's never really been higher because they can see the opportunity of what we have within these three Tests.

“We've never beaten Australia at home. We've never beaten Australia in Australia. So there's loads of carrots hanging in front of this team that they want to go after.

“And for a lot of the senior players in this group, they've been real pioneers of what this programme's been about. So when they can stack up first moments of doing the first thing for a Scottish women's team, then that's a huge motivation for them. So actually the motivation in the group right now is pretty high and it's pretty competitive. We're in a good spot, I think.”

Fergusson thinks Australia have improved as a result of their involvement in the Pacific Four series which sees them lock horns with New Zealand, USA and Canada. The Wallaroos came close to beating France in Aix-en-Provence at the weekend but blew a 19-point lead and ended up losing 29-26.

Scotland, by contrast, conceded 10 tries for the second game in a row, with New Zealand winning 66-14. Fergusson acknowledged that the games against Canada and the Black Ferns had been “really challenging” but that there were still signs of growth. The aim now is to build on that against opponents who are on a more equal footing.

Fergusson, who will take over as head coach of the Glasgow Warriors women’s side for the Celtic Challenge, has been brought into the Scotland set-up to aid the new coaching team during the WXV series.

“My remit's around the attack and breakdown and what we can do in that area,” he said. “I think it was identified as something that we need to massively improve on.

“So the real focus is on what we're doing from catching the ball before contact to what we do in the contact, what we do through that clear-out and all the soft skills around that.”