'Always that extra bit of emotion' - Scotland skipper pleased to kick off Women's Six Nations away to Wales

It’s a fixture that has been positive for the Scots in recent years as they head to Cardiff on the back of a four match winning run, including a 38-8 victory in last year’s World Cup. The last time the two sides met on Welsh turf was in 2024 where Scotland secured a narrow 20-18 win.

That game was played at Cardiff Arms Park but this time around the two teams will face off at the home of Welsh rugby in what will be the first game in charge for new Scotland head coach Sione Fukofuka. It is a fixture that skipper Rachel Malcolm says she is pleased to be starting off this year’s Six Nations with.

‘Always fun to start against Wales’

“I think it’s always fun to start against Wales,” said the 61-times capped back rower. “We’ve done it quite a few times now and it’s always a big match for us and for them.

“It’s tight, it goes both ways in terms of the scoreline, and I think it’s one that always has that extra bit of emotion, which is exactly how you want to start the tournament. I think going up against a team that we probably deem as competition, and one that we can really compete against, is an exciting way to start.

“It will be a good challenge for us in terms of the level we know we were at against them at the World Cup, so it will be a good gauge to see where we’re at with this new group. I’ve no doubt there will be a ton of learnings off the back of it. But it is a brilliant contest for us to start with, and one that we’re really excited about.

“I think that when you play Wales you are always going to have a fight, whether it be in the first minute or the 80th minute, it’s going to be a fight to the absolute end. Notoriously it’s a fixture that is won by very small margins. That one at the World Cup was probably quite rare in that respect.

“So I know going into this weekend we are expecting an absolute kind of traditional dogfight. We’re both in quite new spaces in terms of players, coaches and things like that, so it is probably slightly more unexpected than what we’re used to.”

The match at the Principality Stadium will be the first of three in this tournament where Scotland play at a national stadium. They will also face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in the final round of fixtures and face England in front of over 25,000 fans at Murrayfield in round two.

‘Incredible’ for Scotland to play three games at national stadiums

Malcolm is excited about the prospect of being tested in these venues, starting this weekend. However, as good as it would be to win at the former Millennium Stadium, it’s certainly not something the 34-year old expects to come easy.

Asked if they would love to ‘spoil the party’ for the Welsh players, she added: “It’s not something we’ve talked about and it’s not something I’m going to comment on and give them fuel to their fire at this point. But I think the fact that we’ve got three games in national stadiums in this tournament is just incredible.

“When I think back to when I started and where we played, to where we are now, playing in front of a record crowd for Scottish women’s sport when we come up here next week, it’s just pretty crazy. A phenomenal amount of work has gone on behind the scenes to make these occasions happen, so yeah, to kick off at the Principality will be a good start for getting used to the noise that hopefully we’ll hear at Murrayfield next week.”

It was confirmed earlier this month that Scotland would be without the services of Evie Gallagher for the whole Six Nations. The 25-year old was shortlisted for the Player of the Championship award last year and Malcolm has acknowledged just how big a loss her back row colleague will be.

She said: “I think Evie is probably one of the best players in the world at the minute, so to lose a player of that calibre just before the tournament is pretty devastating. But I think what’s really exciting is the number of young back-rows that we have coming through, and this is the perfect opportunity for them to step up and get game time and show what they can do in those spaces.”

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