Scotland's Leah Bartlett: 'We have not become a bad team overnight'

Having supported Leicester Tigers men’s team since she was a little girl and now playing for their women’s team, it is perhaps no surprise that Leah Bartlett is excited that Scotland are going to be playing at Mattioli Woods Welford Road this coming Saturday.

Growing up in Loughborough to Scottish parents, loosehead Bartlett, looking to earn her 42nd cap off the bench this Saturday against world number ones England, had a Tigers season ticket and vividly remembers watching Italy men’s legendary tighthead Martín Castrogiovanni doing his thing for the club and trying to pick up front-row tips.

Seeing big name players up close from the stands at Welford Road coupled with playing the sport herself at local club Loughborough Town got Bartlett, the youngest of seven siblings, really into rugby in her youth and she has never looked back.

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

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

Since then, she has served Loughborough University, Loughborough Lightning and, for the last two seasons, Leicester Tigers with distinction as well as making her mark with Scotland since her 2020 debut versus Spain.

Ahead of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations round four clash against the Red Roses, Bartlett said: “Maybe given my history with the place I am a little bit biased, but I really think it is an amazing stadium to play rugby at.”

“It is a proper old school rugby ground and I love the feeling there. On a personal note, a lot of family members and friends who live locally are set to be heading along to watch this weekend so that will make the occasion extra special.”

While excited by the prospect of playing for the away team in her ‘home’ stadium, Bartlett and her Scotland team mates will be focussing solely on the Six Nations match against the world’s best team come Saturday afternoon.

A team that have won three from three so far in the tournament and are looking a good bet for another Grand Slam, while the Scots are heading into this one off the back of a disappointing 25-17 home defeat to Italy in round three.

Bartlett came off the bench in the 49th minute at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh and, in general, it was a flat performance from the Scots who are now fifth in the standings with one win from three to date.

They have lost their last 26 matches in all competitions to the Red Roses since a 15-13 win in the European Championship in Italy way back in 1999, so go into this meeting as massive underdogs, but they are not heading south just to make up the numbers.

“There is no two ways about it, England are the best team in the world and are building up to a home World Cup. But we are building up to a World Cup too and there is no better way to build up to the biggest tournament in the world than taking on the best in the world,” said the 26-year-old.

“We know they have threats all over the pitch, but we have to focus on ourselves and think about how we can cause England problems, how we can get through them, how we can get round them and get points on the board. These are the kinds of challenges that you want as a player.

“We have not become a bad team overnight, we know that the performance against Italy did not reach the standards that we set for ourselves, but our form over the last two years [13 wins in 19 Tests ] shows that we are a squad on the rise and over the last few days in camp we have reset and are ready to go again.

“Since I joined the squad something that we have got a lot better at as a group is analysing matches and then having those honest conversations with each other so that we can work out what went well, what didn’t go so well and what we can work on to make the next performance better.

“Everyone will be talking about England in the lead up to the weekend, but we know what we need to do to try and be competitive at Welford Road and this game and the Ireland one at home in round five are very important ones for us.”