‘Brilliant’ Wassell was under no pressure to return, says Easson
EMMA WASSELL returns to the Scotland team for the crucial Guinness Six Nations finale against Ireland in Belfast tomorrow.
Wassell has missed the last two matches following the death of her mother Pauline, but returns for the trip to Kingspan Stadium.
Head coach Bryan Easson was keen to stress there was no pressure on Wassell to return but praised her work in training this week.
Easson said: “We made it very clear to her that it was her decision. There was no pressure on her whatsoever to come in last week or be involved this week.
“We’ve made it clear it’s person first, player second and we’ll continue that. She’s a strong woman – a bereavement is tough for anyone to take, but she’s got close people around her and very close friends in this group and I think she wanted to be part of that.
“In terms of selection, she trained really well this week and she’s in because of her talent.
“The way she trained this week, it was a no brainer she had to come back. She’s brought energy and she’s been brilliant around the group.”
Meryl Smith also returns at fullback in place of the suspended
Chloe Rollie, who was handed a three-match ban following her sending off in Parma.
The Scotland head coach said he had no complaints over the ban for Rollie’s dangerous clear-out.
“It was an unfortunate incident, there was no malice in it at all,” he said. “Chloe agrees that she lost the head and shoulder battle with her opposition but she was going for the ball so physics kind of caused it.
“Rightly, because of the way we want things to go and getting away from any instances like that, the three-game ban was fair.”
The final change to the starting line-up sees Coreen Grant take over on the right wing from Rhona Lloyd.
Lloyd, the squad’s top try-scorer who won her 50th cap in the win over Italy, is on GB Sevens duty.
Easson hopes the Saracens wing can again hit the ground running after kicking off the championship with a try-scoring display in the win over Wales.
He said: “I thought we saw pretty much close to her best against
Wales. She had that finish against the Welsh and she was unlucky with another chance.
“To have her experience with Fran [McGhie], who is dangerous, and Meryl, who is creative – Coreen is probably the glue in there in terms of her communication. There’s a really good blend across the back three this week.”
Wassell’s return means Eva Donaldson drops to the bench, where she is joined by uncapped Edinburgh University backs Cieron Bell and Nicole Flynn.
Easson said the young backs had earned their opportunities at potential first caps.
“They’ve got that exuberance of youth and there’s no fear,” he said. “We’ve allowed them to come in and be themselves as individuals because unless you can be yourself, you don’t perform. Both of them have done really well.”