Rachel Malcolm challenges Scotland to end losing streak after Australia collapse

Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm wants her side to use the energy that will be generated around the quadruple header in Sydney on Saturday to their advantage and go out and put in a performance that they can be proud of.

The WXV Global Series clash between the Wallaroos and the Scots will kick things off at the Accor Stadium and will be followed by a men’s sevens match between Australia and Fiji, a women’s sevens match between Australia and New Zealand and then the Wallabies against the All Blacks in the second Bledisloe Cup Test of 2026.

So far this year Scotland have played in front of their own standalone record crowd of 30,498 at Scottish Gas Murrayfield when the Red Roses came calling during the Guinness Women’s Six Nations and then in front of 31,294 at the Aviva Stadium versus Ireland later in that same tournament.

But this coming weekend could be a different level in terms of everything that is going on at the Accor Stadium down under and back-row Malcolm wants her charges to embrace that and channel it into a good showing.

“What’s really cool about the women’s game nowadays is that we get the opportunity to play in these big showcase matches and we are all looking forward to the occasion, 100 percent,” the 35-year-old said.

“I think it is really exciting for us to be a part of the quadruple header and I think it’s brilliant that Australia have managed to get that sorted in terms of growing the game in general, growing the women’s game and getting more eyes on the women’s game.

“There’s two bits to it: one, we have to completely absorb and enjoy everything that is going to be going on around the fixture on the day and use it to energise ourselves for the game, but two, we cannot be overshadowed by that excitement.

“We’ve got to have our eye on what we’re up to in our game first and foremost and my job as captain is to keep the train on the tracks in that sense and keep us focused on performance.

“I’ve no doubt that we’ll be fine, whatever else is going on we want to go out there and perform.”

After losses to Canada, New Zealand and Australia last month in Edinburgh, Scotland’s WXV Global Series campaign concludes with Saturday’s match and then another meeting with the Wallaroos in Canberra on October 23.

While losses against number three in the world and two in the world Canada and New Zealand were expected, a defeat to Australia at Hive Stadium on Saturday 26 September was a real blow, especially after Scotland were 10-5 at half-time before losing 30-10.

It means that the Scots have now lost seven Tests in a row in all competition and are down to ninth in the world rankings with Australia sitting seventh.

And, ahead of the next game, the second half collapse against the Wallaroos last time out is still very much on the minds.

“I’ve been a part of this squad for a really long time and I’ve been a part of games like that that have ended up in a similar scoreline when things have got away from us,” Malcolm explained.

“But I’ve not been as frustrated at the end of a game before as I was than this one because I think the end result was probably fair.

“And I think it was fair based on how we performed in that second half.

“As players we didn’t do a good enough job in that second half and the real frustration is that we know we had it in us to go on and win the game.

“In the first half it felt like we were in control and we were in the driving seat, but that changed and since the game there have been a couple of really important learnings for what is a pretty inexperienced group around making the most of momentum when you have it.

“Taking opportunities when you have the wind is a big one. The conditions changed in the second half and they probably got a little bit worse in terms of the rain coming on as well and we left ourselves a mountain to climb.

“It’s definitely one that got away and I’m excited that we’ve now got two more opportunities to go and right those wrongs against the same opponents.

“I think it’s going to be a steeper challenge being away from home against the Wallaroos, but I have confidence going into these next two games that if we play as we know we can then we can give ourselves a real chance of getting wins.

“The belief is in this group, we just have to show that over 80 minutes and Sydney first up gives us a great chance to do that.

“We were prepped really well by our athletic performance team before we headed to Australia and we are ready for the next big game now.”