'It was the biggest game of my career so far…now to the World Cup'
Scottish spirits are on the up. They had to go the long way round and Covid painfully elongated the process, but their recent victory in Dubai saw them qualify for their first World Cup tournament since 2010.
One of the mainstays in the team throughout the qualification process was full back Chloe Rollie. The Exeter Chiefs player describes what it meant for the squad to beat Colombia and book their spot at the sport’s pinnacle event in New Zealand in October.
“The trip over there was amazing and great for us as a squad as memories were made,” said the 26-year-old. “A lot of people in that squad tried to qualify last time out and we just wanted to do it for each other. We waited 12 long years to get to that point, and it didn’t come easy!
“I was in the squad five years ago when we played Spain in those two matches and we didn’t qualify. I was younger then and it felt like a massive thing to lose but when I look back now, I didn’t realise how much it actually meant and for some players where it was maybe their second or third time trying to qualify.
“It was the biggest game of my career so far but winning it comfortably brought mixed emotions, it was over so quickly and it was built up for so long, it’s been all about World Cup qualification for over 18 months, so it was a bit surreal and we were like what do we do now?
“We’re just excited to get out there and play at the World Cup and we won’t take any second of it for granted. We’re in a tough group with New Zealand, Wales and Australia but I believe we can get the results that we want. It’s only another six months away and the belief in the team is massive. The earlier qualification games against Ireland, Spain and Italy showed what we can do and we can get results, plus Dubai was great preparation for us.”
Nine tries.
Eight scorers.
One ticket to New Zealand!Recap the best of Friday night’s action as Scotland claimed their place at @rugbyworldcup ?
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 27, 2022
Not only has the development and investment in England’s top league, the Premier 15s, meant that home grown talent has prospered on the international stage but it has also been of benefit to a handful of other nations ahead of the World Cup.
Scotland is one of those countries who has taken advantage of the competition with only two of the starting XV selected to play Colombia not currently playing their rugby in the top English league.
“Most of the players who play for Scotland are Premier 15s players as the standard compared to the Scottish club level is night and day, it’s bad to say that but that’s just the way it is.
“I think lots of people started to realise that when players like myself, Jade (Konkel) and Lisa (Martin) went to France, and then Jade led the way to the Premier 15s. It’s becoming a lot easier to do it now, clubs are offering a lot more as they’re able to, for example Exeter are helping me out with my accommodation which makes it easier as we’re not from England and don’t have family homes there.”
Not only have England led the way in terms of investing in the Premier 15s but they have also headed the pack with full-time contracted players since January 2019. However, other than Wales, other European nations such as Italy, Ireland and Scotland still lag behind on the slow journey to professionalism.
“Some players are part time with their work but some players still have to work full time or are studying full time and find it hard with sorting work placements. I think juggling both is hard. We have full time players, like myself, Lana Skeldon and Lisa Thomson and that means we can completely focus on rugby, but there is a big mix in the squad.
“Women’s rugby is growing and hopefully in the future it will be normal practice to pay players. For me to be supported through Scottish Rugby is a massive privilege and it’s always been a dream but with more international teams going professional it encourages other teams to follow in their footsteps.”
Scotland ?? Dubai
Get an insight into Scotland's journey to Dubai with @itschloerollie ahead of their @rugbyworldcup Final Qualifier next week ?#AsOne pic.twitter.com/eV0n2aqvku
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 15, 2022
With the Women’s Six Nations starting on March 26th with more and more players playing rugby full-time, you can only expect this to have a positive result on the standard of the tournament. Another encouraging sign has been the involvement of social media platform TikTok who are the first title partner of the Women’s Six Nations in the history of the tournament.
Rollie herself is an avid TikTokker who has a decent following on the platform, often showcasing her rugby travels and experiences.
“I think it’s really important to have a brand like TikTok come on board, it stops women’s rugby from being in the shadows and means a lot more people are being exposed to it and that’s just massive for us.
“To be able to show who you are on a social platform like TikTok is massive and over the World Cup qualifiers myself and Rhona (Lloyd) were creating videos and TikTok dances and it gives you some fun and a way to have a laugh with your community and followers.
“You’re able to put yourself across on the platform really well, and of course sometimes it becomes a battle to see who gets the most views and likes.”
With World Cup qualification under their belts, Scotland have half a year to build towards the tournament, but first they have the small task of the Women’s Six Nations, once again in its own window to the men’s tournament and back to the usual five game round-robin structure. Let’s see if they can climb the table and continue to surprise teams with their spirit and heart.
Scotland’s TikTok Women’s Six Nations campaign gets underway at home on Saturday 26th March against England.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
26 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
26 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
26 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
26 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
26 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments