Dave Butcher: Scotland rediscovering identity after coaching upheaval

Despite having lost three games out of three in the WXV Global Series so far, Scotland interim head coach Dave Butcher believes that the side are “taking strides in the right direction”.

The Scots head off to Australia today for their two remaining WXV Global Series fixtures against the Wallaroos on 17 and 23 October still smarting from the poor second half that saw them beaten 30-10 by the same opposition in Edinburgh in their last game on 26 September having led 10-5 at the interval.

Scotland have now lost seven games on the trot in all competitions, but Butcher is looking at the bigger picture and feels that the squad are starting to rediscover their identity that seemed to fall off of a cliff both on and off the pitch during the Guinness Women’s Six Nations period earlier in the year under previous head coach Sione Fukofuka.

Butcher, who joined the set up earlier in the year and worked alongside Fukofuka and his also departed senior assistant coach Ioan Cunningham for a few months, is enjoying being part of the rebuild so much that he has admitted that conversations have already begun with the Scottish Rugby hierarchy regarding potentially taking on the head coach role on a permanent basis.

That would get the thumbs up from the players who have enjoyed working with Butcher so far – indeed many have gone on the record saying that – and who are craving stability heading into the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2029 after a year of chopping and changing of the coaching staff.

“We’ve had conversations about it [becoming head coach], but the priority is the next two games,” Butcher said on Tuesday.

“When I took over as interim head coach there were some immediate pieces we needed to work on. The environment was a big one and Rachel [Malcolm, the team’s captain], the senior leadership group and the assistant coaches who have come in have all been a massive part of changing things.

“We’ve had chats about the future, but the focus now is on the immediate and then, after WXV, that’s when we can look at that in a little bit more detail.

“It’s nice when your players say that [positive things about you], obviously that’s the highest accolade.

“At the end of the day, the only reason we’re here as coaches is because of the players so whatever we’re doing has to focus on the players and the way we want to play. It’s great to hear that they are enjoying things.

“I think the players’ focus should be on every match and my focus has to be on the bigger picture. If I ever get stuck just looking from match to match then that’s probably when we’ll fall over.

“When you put a thistle on your chest, you should want, with every part of your being, to win every single match.

“My job now is to develop our playing style and identity to allow us then to get outcomes.

“That might happen in the next two games or it might happen when we go into the Six Nations early next year, but we’ve got a very clear picture of how we want to move forward and how we want to play with the players that we’ve got.”

Butcher and co all had time away from the environment last week after seven straight weeks together and came back together again on Tuesday ahead of travelling down under for the last two Tests of the year in Sydney and Canberra.

Four losses in the Women’s Six Nations after an opening win versus Wales followed up by the home WXV Global defeats to Canada, New Zealand and Australia were split by the departure of Australian Fukofuka on 3 August due to family and personal reasons.

Scottish Rugby were surprised when he was then named Wallaroos head coach just eight days later and, while he does not take up that post officially until January, the move certainly adds intrigue to this upcoming tour.

Asked for his take on Fukofuka taking a new role so soon after leaving Scotland, Butcher stated: “Surprised, but whatever he wants to do is fine by me.

“The biggest piece for me was ‘is there any carryover to our team from what happened?’ and I don’t think there was.

“We pressed the reset button and said we’re going to do things how we think they should be done moving forward based on the players’ input, my biases on what high performance rugby looks like and the coaches that we brought in.

“It was then about ‘how do we want to play a Scottish-identified game?’

“Did I give it [Fukofuka’s move] much thinking space? Not really.

“I’d never call it my squad, it’s our squad, it’s the players’ squad first and foremost, I’m just there, pointing the direction and blowing the whistle.

“It’s great hearing Rachel, the captain, and the players saying that they feel like we’re starting to get our identity on the field because that’s what everything signposts towards.

“We align everything into how we play on the field and how we play as a Scotland team.

“And I feel like we’re moving towards being how we want our Scotland squad to be.”