Scotland Women overpowered by Canada as new coach identifies area for growth

The visitors outscored the hosts by 10 tries to four in Edinburgh and in Olivia Apps had the game’s outstanding player. The scrum-half crossed twice and had another score disallowed.

For the Scots, there was a welcome return for Evie Gallagher who played with tenacity in her first international appearance since last year’s Rugby World Cup. The flanker scored Scotland’s first try and set up the second for Shona Campbell. There were further tries in the second half for Lana Skeldon and Rhona Lloyd.

Gallagher was joined in the back row by Rachel Malcolm, with the captain also making her comeback after a long injury absence. But not even her leadership could stop the red tide. Canada scored five tries in each half and, as well as two for Apps, there was a double for the dangerous Lizzie Gibson and one apiece for Brittany Kassil - who was also red-carded - Julia Omokhuale, Taylor Perry, Justine Pelletier, Gabrielle Senft and Savannah Bauder.

“Sitting in the coach's box, I was obviously not happy with the scoreline, but [I was with] the endeavour that we showed, and we asked them to be really brave,” said Butcher, who was placed in interim charge following Sione Fukofuka’s sudden departure to Australia last month.

‘Encourage the braveness’

“I think our job now is to kind of encourage that braveness, but then understand how we execute through it.

“I think the areas that probably disappointed us a little bit was our physicality around the breakdown and keeping the ball. But we'll eat that, and we'll come back better.

“We talked about it at half-time and there was a reaction, so we got a more consistent, quick ball. Then we were able to play at the pace that we wanted to.

“If we're being really honest, we're five weeks into a complete rebuild, and if we hadn't shown an identity of the way we wanted to play based on how we trained, I think that would worry me. However, we've seen glimpses of it.”

Scotland fail to make it count against 13

It was Scotland’s first match in the revamped WXV Global Series and they went in very much as underdogs against last year’s World Cup finalists. However, Canada were down to 13 players at one point and the Scots couldn’t make it count, scoring one try but conceding one as well.

Two Canadian tries in the opening 10 minutes set the tone. Gibson got the first, taking a quick tap penalty from Apps and spotting the gap to score. Apps, a ball of energy who looked sharper than anyone else on the field, bagged the second from the base of a ruck.

The Scots came back well and Evie Gallagher got their first points. She won a turnover to put Scotland in a promising position in the corner and was then on hand to finish. Helen Nelson converted.

The home team needed to consolidate but found themselves overrun by superior opponents who scored three more tries and had another two disallowed before the half was out.

Gibson forced her way over for her second - a carbon copy of the first - before Charity Williams had one chalked off for a knock on. Kassil scored Canada’s fourth after a smart penalty move from Apps and Omokhuale weighed in with the fifth,

Determined Gallagher

Scotland lost Becky Boyd to a head injury, with Eva Donaldson replacing her, and the hosts crossed for their second try soon after. It showcased all that was good about the Scots. Apps was stripped of the ball and Evie Gallagher showed great determination down the left wing before offloading to Campbell to score.

Apps had a ‘try’ disallowed just before the break for obstruction and Scotland went in at the turn 31-12 down.

Just as they had in the first half, Canada began strongly and added two more tries soon after the break, through Perry and Apps, to make it 45-12.

Scotland needed to stem the flow and a quick break from Rachel Phillips gave them some hope. Senft killed the ball in the aftermath and was yellow-carded. Kassil followed her to the sin-bin a couple of minutes later for a high tackle on Meryl Smith and the Canada prop saw her yellow card upgraded to a 20-minute red card following a bunker review.

Up against 13, Scotland scored through a pick-and-go from Skeldon but also conceded to Pelletier.

Lloyd hit back for the Scots, collecting a perfectly judged cross-kick from Nelson who added the conversion - her third of the day - to cut Canada’s advantage to 52-26.

Unfortunately, for the home team, Canada scored twice more in the final six minutes, through Senft and Bauder, to win 64-26.

It doesn't get any easier for Scotland, with New Zealand up next at Hive Stadium.

Teams and scorers at Hive Stadium

Scorers: Scotland: Tries: E Gallagher, Campbell, Skeldon, Lloyd. Cons: Nelson 3. Canada: Tries: Gibson 2, Apps 2, Kassil, Omokhuale, Perry, Pelletier, Senft, Bauder. Cons: C Gallagher 7.

Yellow card: Gabriellie Senft (Can, 52min). 20-min red card: Brittany Kassil (Can, 56min)

Scotland: Chloe Rollie; Rhona Lloyd, Rachel Philipps, Meryl Smith (Hannah Ramsay 65), Shona Campbell (Katie Buchanan 65); Helen Nelson, Rhea Clarke (Ceitidh Ainsworth 60); Leah Bartlett (Anne Young 46), Lana Skeldon (Aicha Sutcliffe 60), Elliann Clarke (Molly Poolman 60), Emma Wassell, Hollie Cunningham (Adelle Ferrie 60), Rachel Malcolm (capt), Evie Gallagher, Becky Boyd (Eva Donaldson 30).

Canada: Claire Gallagher; Fancy Bermudez (Asia Hogan-Rochester 62), Florence Symonds, Alexandra Tessier (capt), Charity Williams; Taylor Perry (Savannah Bauder 68), Olivia Apps (Justine Pelletier 52); Brittany Kassil, Kiki Idowu (Emily Tuttosi 46), DaLeaka Menin (Brooke Rempel 62), Rachel Smith (Sophie de Goede 46), Laetitia Royer, Julia Omokhuale (Pamphinette Buisa 62), Lizzie Gibson (Sophie McDonald 63), Gabrielle Senft.

Referee: Holly Wood (RFU).

Attendance: 2,721.