For the fourth home game in a row, Scotland faced one of last year’s World Cup semi-finalists and went down to a heavy defeat. It wasn’t an easy watch as a Scotland fan but there were some positives. Here are some talking points.
Black Ferns a joy to watch
Although it doesn’t feel great to be on the receiving end, the one good thing as a rugby fan overall has been the opportunity to see some incredibly impressive teams up close. The speed at which New Zealand played was phenomenal, both their ruck speed and the quickness and accuracy of their handling. Unfortunately, Scotland’s biggest weakness this year has been not finding a way to slow down ball and reorganise their defence quickly so this was always going to lead to trouble. With usual stand-off and captain Ruahei Demant injured, New Zealand seemed to playing off 9 a lot more, and Scotland could not cope with Black Ferns’ ability to reset their attacking shape again and again to give their half backs options.
Player of the match Tara Turner not only got her team quick, front-foot ball, but her cut-out passes made things so difficult for the home defence and her choices were excellent. Even as you don’t want to see it happen against your own team, getting to see the mazy running of Braxton Sorensen-McGee, the athleticism of the likes of Layla Sae and Maia Roos, and the power of Georgia Ponsonby and Mo’omo’oga Palu, amongst others, was a privilege.
Scotland show some resilience
The worst period of the match for Scotland was the first seven minutes of the second half when they conceded 21 points in a flurry and things felt ominous. But then Scotland managed to shut the Black Ferns out for 35 minutes (and very nearly the rest of the match). It showed that this team has a lot of resilience, and will always find something to fight for.
Scotland’s tackle percentage for the match overall was back down to a worrying 81%, but in this period, they were not falling off nearly as many tackles as they had been, and they seemed to be putting more pressure on the Black Ferns attack and forcing errors. Scotland also did a lot better job of securing their own ball and retaining possession for more phases. Several replacements came on and brought a lot of energy and commitment. They will be disappointed that they couldn’t do much with that possession and did not come that close to scoring.
Their best opportunity coming to an end with a New Zealand knock-on in the tackle, and the Black Ferns winning a penalty against the head in the resulting scrum. Maybe Scotland should have tried to kick a bit more in this period to try vary their attack, although with the wind against them and the counter-attacking abilities of the Black Ferns, it is understandable they wanted a bit more time with the ball in hand. Timing on passes and runs did not seem to be quite on the money, and this may be symptomatic of the recent coaching upheaval. They have another three games this year to try and get that attack working more slickly and to build on a much more promising half hour of the game.
Historic moments to remember
For all the game wasn’t close, it was a historic moment, with a first visit from the Black Ferns to Scotland, and a haka at the Hive.
It was very unlikely Scotland were ever going to win this game, but there was one turning point where they came close to taking the lead. The wind unfortunately pushed a Meryl Smith clearance on turnover ball past the dead ball line, but Rhona Lloyd nearly got to it and it would likely been Scotland 14-12 with just over a quarter of the game gone and perhaps we could have dreamt a little. Unfortunately, New Zealand scored in the play from the resulting scrum and the game went one way from there.
My intention was, for once, not to write too much about Evie Gallagher, but she spoiled that plan by scoring Scotland’s first ever try against the Black Ferns. And then she scored their second, and that historic double should be celebrated. Last week, Gallagher equalled the WXV record for involvements, with a total of 71 carries, tackles and rucks hit. This week, she set a new high bar of 75, made up of 19 carries, 20 tackles and 36 rucks hit. She induced an early turnover penalty (given for sealing off) and won another turnover penalty later in the game. It was another all-round excellent performance.
Bogan shows she is where she belongs
Holland Bogan has always seemed like one of those players that ups her game with every level she plays at – excellent at age grade and consistently one of Glasgow Warriors’ best players, and now bringing her best at senior international level. She has been playing well for Scotland since her debut but against some of the best opposition she has faced, she showed that she definitely belongs here and was one of Scotland’s best performers. In attack, she was one of Scotland’s most dominant carriers, consistently getting over the game line. She put in some really impressive tackles, was Scotland’s joint top tackler with 22, and she added two turnovers.
She was crucial in keeping Palu quiet after her opening try, although she’ll want to forget the tackle attempt on Amarante Sititi for the first try of the second half. But she more than made up for that error with her involvements in the Scotland tries. For the first try, she was crucial in the dominant maul that gave Scotland good ball to attack from and subsequently had a huge driving carry to get the team within inches of the line. For the second, her well-timed pass assisted an excellent line break from Meryl Smith and she again put in useful carries immediately before the score. She is still only 21, and is not just one for the future, but one for right now.
Scotland need to prove their level
From these past couple of matches, and 2026 as a whole, it has felt like Scotland are slightly closer to the top teams than they were in 2022, but further away from them than they were in the last couple of years, including at the World Cup. Hopefully, a lot of this is just due to it being a slow start to a new RWC cycle and the coaching changes rather than anything more fundamental.
This weekend’s match against Australia is a chance to show that their level has gone up in the last few years, after two fairly narrow defeats in 2022 and 2024. Scotland are currently just ranked above Australia, partly to having had a better couple of years recently. Scotland have also never beaten the Wallaroos and once again, this is a first ever match against this team in Scotland.
After Australia led against both England and France at half time in their recent matches, (the second in the strangest circumstances with France down to 11 players at one point), the Wallaroos probably are favourites for the match. Scotland will have to take heart from the second half resilience they showed against the Black Ferns if they do find themselves behind, and show fight to the end. These next three matches against Australia are an opportunity for Scotland to show who they really are, and hopefully they will make the most of that.
