Rachel Malcolm: Scotland are 'learning how to win again'

Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm admits that the team must learn to win again after their winless WXV Global Series campaign.

Scotland lost all three of their matches against the Wallaroos, and also suffered defeats to Canada and the Black Ferns.

Those results mean Scotland have won just one Test match in 2026 – against Wales in their Guinness Women’s Six Nations opener – a difficult run for a side that reached the quarter-finals of the Women’s Rugby World Cup just over a year ago.

“Ultimately, we want to win Test matches,” Malcolm told RugbyPass. “We don’t want to go back to Scotland having lost multiple games on the road, which at the minute we are.

“I think for me, that’s the biggest thing going into the Six Nations: learning how to win again and making that a habit.

“A big part of it is learning how to win with this new group. It’s a very new and inexperienced group, so for me as a leader, it’s about honing that a little bit more. I think we definitely made some good moves in that direction in that final game.”

Despite the disappointing results, Malcolm believes there were encouraging signs of progress during the campaign, particularly when comparing Scotland’s opening performance against Canada with their final outing against Australia.

“I think when I reflect on it, if I look at our performance in the first game against Canada and compare that to the final game against Australia, there was actually so much more improvement than you maybe think, just looking at it and being in it in that moment. So I think we can take a lot of hope from that.”

That improvement, alongside the experience gained by Scotland’s younger players, offers encouragement as the team looks to build towards the 2027 Women’s Six Nations.

In the weeks since the campaign ended, Scottish Rugby confirmed that Dave Butcher would continue as head coach on a full-time basis after initially taking charge on an interim basis. Chris Laidlaw has also joined the coaching team on a full-time basis following his secondment from Harlequins.

The appointments offer Scotland some much-needed continuity after the disruption of Sione Fukofuka’s departure after just eight months as head coach.

Malcolm also recognises the importance of experience within the squad. Having started her international career when Scotland were struggling to establish themselves as a winning side, the 35-year-old believes the current group has something that previous generations did not.

“There was a time at the start of my career where none of us had ever won for Scotland,” Malcolm said. “So to get that into being a habit and something that we could aspire to felt quite unrealistic at times.

“It doesn’t feel the same because I think we have people in that group who have won a huge amount of games for Scotland and achieved some really brilliant things.

“The fact that we’ve got those people and that experience means they’ll pull the rest of us through, and we’ll get back to where we were.”

With WXV Global Series now in the rearview mirror, Malcolm returns to a Trailfinders Women side with ambitions of its own.

Premiership Women’s Rugby runners-up last season, head coach Barney Maddison has strengthened his squad as the West London club looks to take strides forward.

Scotland fly-half Helen Nelson, Canada lock Laetitia Royer, Black Ferns wing Ruby Tui and England back Bo Westcombe-Evans have all joined the side.

Trailfinders have already enjoyed success on the pitch this season, with a youthful side claiming the JAECOO PWR Next Gen Cup after a 22-21 victory over Saracens at StoneX Stadium.

A number of those emerging players will now be looking to push for starting places when the league season begins next week, something that has impressed Malcolm since her return to training.

“Coming back into training and seeing the development of some of those younger players is really exciting,” Malcolm said.

“I was there right at the start of preseason, and even in the space of two or three months, you can see how much they’ve developed. They’ve put themselves in a brilliant position to compete for starting jerseys and help us push on.

“I’m a big believer that you never win a trophy with just 15 or 23 players. You need a squad of exceptional players and real depth. I think this Cup season has given us an opportunity to build that depth, and we’re in a really good place with it.”

Trailfinders begin their 2026/27 campaign with a trip to Loughborough Lightning on Friday 20 November, before hosting Harlequins at Trailfinders Sports Club a week later.

Having reached last season’s final at the Twickenham Stoop, Malcolm is determined to see her side build on that achievement and establish themselves among the league’s leading contenders.

“I want to win the PWR!” she said. “We need to be competing with the top four throughout the season. Last season, there were probably certain teams that we didn’t compete with in some of the regular-season fixtures.

“It really took us until the end of the season to get to that level. We struggled against teams like Exeter and Saracens, who play a more physical game.

“That’s the kind of game that we need to develop if we’re going to compete with them. If we can get that right, I think we’ll be in a really good position.”