Three Scots Named in the Women’s Six Nations Team of the Tournament
Three Scottish players have been named in the Stats Perform Team of the Championship for the 2023 TikTok Women’s Six Nations.
Following a campaign that saw Scotland win two games for the first time since 2017, Lana Skeldon, Evie Gallagher, and Chloe Rollie have had their personal efforts rewarded with places in the strongest starting XV across the five rounds.
Skeldon’s four tries across five games included two against Italy to secure their first Six Nations win in 12 games. The hooker finished the tournament with the joint-highest number of tries scored by a front-rower, equalled only by Welsh prop Sisilia Tuipulotu.
Skeldon, who plays her club rugby at Worcester Warriors, recorded 73 successful tackles, the fifth most by any player. The only Scot who made more tackles was Gallagher named as the Team of the Tournament’s number eight.
The absence of the battle-hardened Jade Konkel-Roberts at the beginning of the tournament and injuries to the likes of Sarah Bonar meant Scotland needed a reliable workhorse upfront. Gallagher started all five of Scotland’s games and was pivotal in Scotland’s defensive efforts.
The forward ranked second amongst all players, completing 81 tackles, beaten only by Ireland’s Neve Jones. The number eight also made a nuisance of herself for the opposition at the breakdown. She won four turnovers and with 47, had the second-most defensive ruck arrivals.
Gallagher was pivotal to Scotland’s defence in the latter stages of the tournament but was consistently excellent in Scotland’s attacking game. While England’s Marlie Packer carried 71 times with some spectacular line breaks , Gallagher led the Scottish carries with 64 and was ranked fifth overall.
Head coach Bryan Easson started the tournament with a significant lack of inexperience in his backs. With Rhona Lloyd and Lisa Thomson involved with the Great Britain Sevens squad, Rollie’s 52 caps were significantly more than the 11 between wingers Francesca McGhie and Coreen Grant as well as centres Emma Orr and Meryl Smith before their match against England.
It did not take Rollie long to evolve into a leader. The fullback provided an attacking spark at Kingston Park, scoring Scotland’s only try against a rampaging England.
Rollie would go on to score an additional two tries for Scotland and danced her way past more defenders (41) than any other player in the Six Nations.
The Scot became one of the attacking stars of the championship. It was no surprise to see England’s Abbie Dow make more metres than any other player on her way to scoring six tries but Rollie was the best of the rest.
The Loughborough Lightning player racked up 606 metres on the ground, over 120 more than Claudia MacDonald who was third on the list.
After finishing fourth in the 2023 Six Nations, Scotland will compete in WXV 2, the second tier of the all-new competition from World Rugby set to debut in September.
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