How Scotland are 'striving for excellence' at WXV after challenging 2026

Scotland fly-half Helen Nelson says the team are striving for excellence in the WXV Global Series as they look to bounce back from a difficult start to 2026.

The team finished fifth in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations, which included heavy defeats against teams such as England and Ireland.

They have then dealt with the departure of their head coach Sione Fukofuka, who confirmed he had left the set up last month.

Dave Butcher is taking interim charge of Scotland for their matches over the next two months against Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Nelson added the vibes in camp are good and the standards have been set high.

“Definitely for the first two fixtures we are focusing on ourselves and striving for excellence,” Nelson said.

“Dave has used that word to keep us driving in competition and being the best that we can in our environment.

“There are certain things we are going after in the first two games, we are not getting away from the fact that they are going to be really tough. We are playing three of the best teams in the world.

“So yeah just focusing very much on ourselves for the first two and see how we go.”

Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 finalists Canada are Scotland’s first opponents and they will be playing at the Hive on 12 September.

The last time the two played one another was at the Women’s World Cup last year with the Canadians coming out with a 40-19 result. But the game was much tighter than the scoreboard suggests and Nelson is keen to get another hit out against the side.

“Yeah we’re excited,” she added. “That World Cup game was close and we felt like we had a really good go at them in attack and defence. We probably left a few tries out there as well. So we’re excited.

“I know they have spent quite a lot of time together this summer and we know quite a few of them as well from playing at Premiership Women’s Rugby clubs so excited to get another crack and to play them at home at the Hive. It’s going to be good.”

Scotland set a record for a women’s sport crowd in Scotland during the Women’s Six Nations when they played England at Murrayfield.

The team will not play at the home of Scottish rugby in WXV Global Series but are determined to keep crowd numbers growing.

Nelson added: “I think over the last few years, especially with the World Cup, we have felt momentum building with the women’s game in Scotland specifically.

“We had so many people travelling down to the fixtures at the World Cup and then to see where it has come from where I first started to there, walking out at Murrayfield, it was incredible.

“I think we are really excited now to get back to the Hive and hopefully start filling it out there and it has always been a great atmosphere even with the stands not full.

“It’s just an exciting time to see how we can keep building that and we are always talking about after the games we have a carousel of so many kids and fans wanting stuff signed.

“It properly gives us a good connection with the fans and I think we’ll keep building on that.”