BRYAN EASSON hopes to use Scotland’s Autumn Test against Japan on Sunday 14th November as an opportunity to grow valuable depth in his squad, but knows that he must balance the desire to experiment with the importance of maintaining the momentum generated by the team’s success in September’s 2021 World Cup Europe Qualifier tournament in Italy.
This match will be Scotland's only official hit-out before the Final World Cup Qualifier Tournament, which is expected to take place in Dubai in January, when they will compete against Samoa, Columbia and either Hong Kong or Kazakhstan for entry into the main event in New Zealand next October.
Having made only one enforced change to his starting XV over the course of three matches during that recent European Qualifier, Easson is aware that he needs to give himself more scope to freshen up his team or adapt personnel to suit particular challenges.
Easson has selected four uncapped players in the 26 strong squad, which came together to start preparing for the Japan match last Monday. They are Shona Campbell, Meryl Smith, Anne Young and Holly McIntyre, who all play for Edinburgh University. Meanwhile, Worcester Warriors second-row Lyndsay O’Donnell – who is originally from Alloa – has been recalled to the squad and is in the frame to make her first appearance for the team since 2017.
“This game is ideal in two ways,” said the coach. “It allows us to get the group back together after being in Italy, and it allows us to play against a team with a different style.
“It also means we are able to look at the player base with a little bit less stress than the Qualifiers when we simply had to win those games. Yes, we want to win this game against Japan to keep the momentum going, but it does also allow us to look at other players who could potentially come into the fold for the World Cup in New Zealand, post the Dubai tournament.
“Holly is a young scrum-half who is originally from Ayr,” he continued. “With Mairi McDonald unavailable for this match due to injury, we still have Jenny Maxwell and Sarah Law who can nine, and this will help us broaden the base.
“Anne is a young loosehead who toured with Scotland to South Africa in 2019, and whohas been involved in our performance squads for 18 months or so.
“Meryl is a stand-off or inside-centre type of player. She is a very good kicker and has been making strides while training with us and playing for Edinburgh Uni as well as Scotland Sevens.
“Shona recently went out to Canada to play sevens with GB. She has trained with us in the past, and while there is good competition in the back three, this is a good time for us to look at her after she has tasted a performance environment with GB.
“Lyndsay is an interesting one, I have kept in touch with Jo Yapp, the head coach at Worcester, and even more so since Lana Skeldon moved there. Lyndsay captained Worcester last year and Jo speaks very highly of her.
"She is playing second-row which is a real positive for us. We had a good chat last week, she is excited to come back in, she has 15 caps previously, but I have never been involved with her.”
A number of established names are missing, including McDonald, Liz Musgrove, Abi Evans and Siobhan Cattigan, who all have medium or short-term injuries which are not expected to keep them out of January's Qualifier.
Katie Dougan, Eva Donaldson and Rachel Shankland were not selected, although Easson was keen to stress that no doors are closed as far as future call-ups are concerned.
Also missing from this squad is Zimbabwean-born tight-head prop Panashe Muzambe who is taking a break from the game.
“She has just started her teaching career having qualified in the summer, so she wants to give everything to that at the moment,” explained Easson. “She’s working up in Aberdeen and is training hard with Emma Wassell up there. She’ll be available again once she has had a bit more time to settle into her new job.”
The Scots will have a fair idea of what to expect against Japan, having played against the Brave Blossoms in their last home game with a crowd pre-Covid, back in November 2019, when the visitors snatched a 24-20 win at Scotstoun thanks to two late tries.
There will also be a familiar face in the opposition’s coaching team with former Scotland cap Louise Dalgliesh having taken up an assistant role with Japan earlier this year.
“Louise came in to shadow me a few times and I did a bit of work with her on how I can support her coaching development, so I was delighted for her when she went to Japan,” said Easson. “It is a great opportunity and what a way for her to start off against Scotland!”
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