Rachel Malcolm: 'We have bounced back from some of the darkest times'

In April 2023 Scotland’s women lost their 12th Test match on the spin and things were not going well.

Fast forward to April 2025 and the Scots have won 13 out of their last 18 Test matches since that run of poor results and many believe the last two years can act as a springboard into the rest of a busy calendar year and, what should be, a bright future for the squad.

There is also a neat symmetry to things because the last defeat in the losing run was away to France before a home victory against Italy kick started things again.

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

Currently Scotland are smarting after a round two Guinness Women’s Six Nations loss to France and are preparing for a home clash with Italy up next, but the fact that a 55-0 defeat in Vannes in 2023 was pretty much expected whereas now they are frustrated that they went down 38-15 in La Rochelle at the weekend and let the game get away from them shows how much things have moved on in the last 24 months.

In the last two years Scotland won a record seven Tests on the bounce at one point, won the inaugural WXV 2 event in South Africa, defeated Wales in Wales for the first time in 20 years, sold out the Hive Stadium to play England, moved up to a record high of five in the world at one point and qualified for the Rugby World Cup in England.

There is still plenty that can be improved on, but the journey they have been on has been impressive by anyone’s standards and head coach Bryan Easson and captain Rachel Malcolm have been reflecting on the period in question.

“The France game two years ago was probably one of my lowest points as coach to be honest,” Bryan Easson, who has been head coach since late 2020, stated.

“Before that one we were losing games by small margins, but we just didn’t perform at all in that game and confidence was low. That was probably the catalyst when we went ‘right, we need to work together to turn things around’.

“Then we beat Italy the week after and then we beat Ireland and that was the start of it. We had some difficult meetings after that France game. We had some real heart-to-hearts just around what it meant for us as Scots to really pull together.

“And everyone has pulled together as 13 wins out of the last 18 games shows. The last two years says a lot about the improved performances of the players, but it also says a lot about the work that the players have put in around their mindset, around how they want to play, the culture, the environment and everything that’s going on here.

“Now there is belief around the group and that belief is because of the last two years. The fact that we are genuinely disappointed not to have gone to France at the weekend and got a positive result shows that belief.”

The head coach mentioned heart-to-heart conversations between the France and Italy games two years ago, so what exactly did those focus on?

“It’s about actions,” Easson added. “Our culture and environment are really important to us, but culture and environment are not about words written on the wall, they are about actions.

“We talk about being brave in this environment. You can say you believe and all that kind of stuff, but bravery means we’re honest with each other as a playing and management group.

“You can’t just expect things to happen, you’ve got to keep reviewing and understanding why things are going well or why things aren’t going so well and then action things. It’s about incremental changes, but through actions and not just words.”

In the period in question- Italy, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, USA, Japan, Wales, Italy again, Wales again, Fiji, Italy for a third time, Japan again and Wales for a third time have been beaten by Scotland.

Losses have come versus France, England, Ireland, Australia and, most recently, France again.

Before the current run, Scotland won ten and drew 1 out of 41 Tests dating back to 2017.

And while professional contracts and such have certainly helped the remarkable upturn in fortunes, the senior players such as skipper Rachel Malcolm, vice-captain Helen Nelson, Lana Skeldon, Lisa Thomson and Chloe Rollie must take great credit along with exciting younger players like Evie Gallagher, Emma Orr and Francesca McGhie.

“It has been a massive turnaround,” back-row Rachel Malcolm, 33, said after the France game at the weekend. “I sat here speaking to you two years ago on the back of a 12th defeat in a row and I sit here now disappointed that we haven’t come away with a win.

“That is a big transition in mindset and a big transition as a group in terms of what we expect of ourselves and that is huge. I have a group of leaders around me who are all driving what we are about and there are 35 plus players who are all bought into what we want to achieve this year and beyond.

“I think the growth in the women’s game in general in the last two years has been massive and I think our growth as Scotland has been massive too.

“That is down to the management team setting standards and putting things in place to allow us to grow and I think we have the right people on board in the right positions.

“The coaches and others behind the scenes are helping us to really believe that we can compete with the top teams in the world like France while the turnaround is also testament to the squad.

“We have bounced back from some of the darkest times I have had in rugby to having some history making results and I am proud of that and the girls should be too.”

Nothing in sport stands still for long though and Easson, Malcolm and co know they need to keep improving to try and bridge the gap between the world’s top four and stay up to speed with the rest of the top ten.

The next big thing for the team that is now 7th in the world is to try and defeat Italy in Edinburgh on April 13th as they continue to search for an 80-minute performance that has alluded them so far in 2025 despite the recent win over Wales.

“There is a huge amount to build on, but we know that we have so much more in the tank,” Malcolm concluded.

“We are not happy with just scoring a few points against France, we wanted to beat them and knew we could if we got things right so that is a big shift in mindset from two years ago.

“We know the areas that we need to improve in and I think we all feel that, although two years down the line from the beginning of good times, that this is really just the start for us.

“We have a big year ahead of us and now the focus is on the next three games against Italy, England and Ireland and really putting our stamp on this Six Nations tournament.”