SCOTS WON’T PUT ENGLAND ON A PEDESTAL

SCOTLAND women’s vice-captain Helen Nelson has made clear to her team-mates they shouldn’t put England ‘on a pedestal’ after losing so heavily to them in previous years. Nelson believes she has a major part to play in getting that message across along with captain Rachel Malcolm as both have the inside track on the strengths and weaknesses of the England team they take on in the Six Nations opener in Doncaster today. The Scotland fly-half, like Malcolm, plays in the English league for Loughborough Lightning and plays with and against the English internationals at club level. She also shares a flat with her opposite number, England No 10 Helena Rowland, with that head to head being one of the key battles. Although the Scots lost 53-0 to England in the 2020 Six Nations and by a massive 80-0 the year before that, Nelson doesn’t expect such a one-sided scoreline this time out. ‘For me, personally, playing against these girls week-in and week-out in England, I know they have weaknesses, I know they are not all world-class all the time,’ said Nelson. ‘I think it is easy to put England on a pedestal at times when they are out on the pitch, but they’re human at the end of the day, and we’re getting better and better. It is just about instilling confidence in us. I do know the English girls a bit better so if any of my teammates come and ask me: “How does this person do x,y,z,” then I can say this is one of their weaknesses. ‘Breaking it down is the way as talking about England as a whole squad can become intimidating. ‘Break it up player by player and match them up with our girls and we are up there individually when you look at the squads. It is about not focusing too much on the English.’ Nelson knows that with the game live on the BBC iPlayer, and the men’s Six Nations over, the fixture will come under the spotlight like never before. For that reason she is desperate for Scotland to put in a competitive performance. ‘We got told before we came into camp that there might be a bit more media attention, and there’s been a camera at ever one of our training sessions,’ she said. ‘It’s funny that little things like that do make a difference. It feels like the buzz around the tournament is huge this year. ‘It makes us as players feel really excited to get going and hopefully put out some good performances that our fans can get behind and just make the women’s game grow more and more.’ ENGLAND V SCOTLAND — Kick-off: 3pm today. Venue: Castle Park, Doncaster. Watch: BBCiPlayer and Red Button.