Talismanic captain Rachel Malcolm believes so Scotland lost their identity as a team between the end of last year and during the Guinness Women’s Six Nations in 2026
She also said that delivering 267 points – including 41 tries – in five games as they finished a disappointing fifth in the Women’s Six Nations campaign “sickened” her soul given the importance the team has placed on defense in recent years.
Now, with the busy period WXV Global Series action begins this weekend, the 35-year-old Trailfinders The women’s back rows have vowed to help bring the national team back to the level they know it is capable of.
They want to rediscover the unique Scottish DNA and team identity that helped them achieve some very good results in 2024 and 2025.
Asked ahead of Saturday’s clash at the Hive Stadium with Canada if Scotland lost their identity during the Women’s Six Nations, Malcolm said: “Yes, 100 per cent. I think probably in the period between the World Cup and the end of the Six Nations, I’d say our identity became a bit blurred.
“It comes down to a number of things, we’ve had a core group of players for about a decade and that’s really changed.
“Then obviously the change in the coaching staff that happened twice in a short period of time.
“Also, it will always be new ideas and without that consistency of ideas.
“Anyone who knows me knows that defense is my favorite part of rugby.
“And I think it hurt me a little bit when I saw how much we slipped after the World Cup in that area and kind of lost that identity of a team that was hard to score against.”
After reaching Žensko Rugby World Cup 2025 quarter-final last September, longtime head coach Bryan Easson left and was replaced by Australian Sione Fukofuka in December.
Under his leadership – and with new assistant coach Ioan Cunningham working with him and leading the defense – Scotland won one and lost four games in the women’s Six Nations before both left in the summer, Fukofuka for family and personal reasons and Cunningham to seek new opportunities
Fukofuka was named after that Australia head coach and he takes up the role in 2027, while Dave Butcher – brought in as an assistant earlier this year – is now Scotland’s interim head coach.
In the last few weeks of pre-season, Butcher has worked closely with his hastily appointed assistant coaches Chris Laidlaw, Tom Luke and Robbie Ferguson and a group of players led by Malcolm and vice-captain Helen Nelson to shake things up and get everyone singing the same song again.
“I think we’re at a place right now where we’re accepting what we want to do,” explained Malcolm, who missed three games in the women’s Six Nations through injury and will earn her 65th cap against Canada.
“I feel a lot happier and more confident about where we are as a Scotland team at the moment than I did during, before or after the Six Nations and I think it’s a really cool place to be.
“That group (of players who were at last year’s World Cup), in my opinion, was probably one of the best Scotland women’s teams of our time.
“We’ve had a tremendous amount of time together under the same coaching staff and that consistency took us five to 10 years to build.
“I wouldn’t say we’re rebuilding from scratch right now, but we’re definitely at a stage where we’re trying to develop and get back to that point.
“I think the most exciting thing about it is the development we’ve made in the last five weeks.
“Dave has been nothing short of phenomenal since taking over.
“The girls love him and he’s taken everything in his stride and, probably most importantly, he’s put together a really cohesive coaching group.
“I don’t think it’s going to be perfect on Saturday, but I think the fact that we really believe in the way we want to play on both sides of the ball is a pretty nice place to be.
“It gave us the hunger to play for Scotland and win for Scotland and I’d definitely say we’re moving in the right direction.”
Malcolm has been around long enough to know things won’t change overnight, especially with a game against world number three Canada, followed by world number two New Zealand’s trip to Edinburgh seven days later.
But she wants her seventh in the world squad to return to the one Scotland fans recognize and wants to build on the momentum ahead of the three Tests with Australia later this month and next.
“I have absolutely no doubt that there is a lot more in us and I think this competition gives us five Test matches against world class to push ourselves and see how far we can stretch it in a short space of time,” she concluded.
“The last five weeks have been really good progress.
“I don’t think we’re a finished product by any means and I think there’s definitely more in us, especially from a physicality point of view, but we’ve got to play the rugby to get up to speed on that front.
“What excites me is the general feeling in the group and that we are excited to defend again.
“We have real clarity in how we want to defend.
“I feel really positive about how we’ve prepared as individuals, but also how (defensive line coach) Chris Laidlaw has come in and really instilled those new defensive principles for us.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge against Canada, we’re going to play against probably the best offense in the world on Saturday and for any defense that’s going to be challenging.
“But for us it’s a really good opportunity to test ourselves against the best in front of a home crowd who are always behind us.”
