Malcolm in fitness battle ahead of Italy clash
SCOTLAND face an anxious wait to learn whether captain Rachel Malcolm will be fit to face Italy at Scotstoun in two weeks’ time.
Back-rower Malcolm limped off at half-time in yesterday’s Six Nations defeat to England at Doncaster, and left the stadium with her knee in a brace.
Head coach Bryan Easson admitted that the Scots’ talismanic skipper was emotional in the dressing room afterwards, having tried to play through the pain barrier for much of the first half.
It is perhaps a blessing that Scotland now have a fallow week ahead of facing the Azzurri on April 17 as Malcolm seeks to recover.
But, in terms of a timescale on the injury, Easson admitted: ‘I really don’t know. She’s in a brace just now and is being well looked after.
‘It takes 24 to 48 hours before we understand what’s going on there.
‘It was her knee — it happened in the first kick-off when she went up for the ball and landed awkwardly.
‘Rachel being Rachel, she’s got the heart of a lion, she wants to be on the pitch and she felt that she was fine.
‘But as the game went on she felt that she couldn’t give anything. She’s emotional, understandably so.
‘Losing a player like
Rachel, the leader, in a game like that is difficult to deal with. But I thought when she went off everybody stepped up to the mark.’
Scotland were soundly beaten in what was Easson’s first official game in charge since taking over as head coach.
He added: ‘The first game for a few months was always going to be difficult — we were under no illusions that it was going to be a very tough ask.
‘We were all disappointed with our first-half display — we felt at half-time that we’d just sat back and waited to see what England were going to bring to us.
‘So at half-time we were quite strong with our words, especially defensively, just staying in the tackle.
‘We’ll take positives from the game rather than look at the first half. We’re going to look at that first half as getting back on the horse again, and now we’re on it.
‘I said to them: “You can hold your heads high regarding your second-half performance”.’