Scotland suffer baptism of fire on emotional Murrayfield occasion

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England score 12 tries to thrash Scotland

When the lone piper on the Murrayfield roof stopped playing to allow the crowd to take Flower of Scotland to a finish, there were goosebumps everywhere.

Scotland players had tears in their eyes as the record number of people who turned out to back them raised the roof.

Even England's world champions, who had played in front of 77,000 at Twickenham a week ago, looked around keenly, taking it all in.

More people had turned up to watch a standalone women's sporting event in Scotland than ever before. It was a moment in Scottish sporting history which was charged with emotion and significance.

Then, the rugby started. Scotland were bludgeoned by 12 English tries, as the Red Roses put in an unsparing performance to spoil the party.

Captain Rachel Malcolm, the heartbeat of this Scotland team, afterwards called it a "baptism of fire" for this new group. It was certainly that.

A landmark day which could be the springboard for more also delivered a brutal reality check for Scotland. It was a day of mixed emotions.

Callow squad given brutal test

A lot was made of how many England players were absent, but Scotland were also missing some talismanic figures.

The gnarly number eight Evie Gallagher, powerful second row Sarah Bonar, classy centre Emma Orr, and the experienced and wily Lisa Thomson, to name a few.

Eight players in Scotland's matchday squad had fewer than 10 caps, most of them on the bench. The players themselves describe this as a "new team" under the stewardship of head coach Sione Fukofuka.

As England brought on Sarah Bern, an 80-cap prop, and Marlie Packer, a 112-cap back-row, to score three tries between them, plus another two from replacements, Scotland toiled.

That is not to say young players such as number eight Emily Coubrough and debutant Rianna Darroch did not show up well. Just the scale of the task was too big for a team getting to grips with new faces and coaching.

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Other teams should be 'very worried' by England performance

"I think it was a bit of inexperience across the board - we are all still learning each other," Malcolm told BBC Sport.

"Today was a baptism of fire and they exposed our weaknesses. This was a brilliant test for us but we hoped we would out in a better performance today."

Malcolm and Fukofuka both insisted the emotion of the occasion did not affect Scotland's performance, it was more about execution and their lack of aggression in defence. A total of 52 missed tackles adds credence to that.

But given how many players talked about the swell of emotion arriving at Murrayfield and during the anthem it is hard not to think it played some part.

Hooker Elis Martin said afterwards there probably were "jitters", but that it should be forgiven because of the nature of the occasion.

What was clear is the physical gap between England and most of the rest remains huge. How Scotland solve that any time soon is difficult to see right now.

England's head coach John Mitchell also cited that as the area Scotland need to improve on most when asked.

For Fukofuka, it is about building more depth. That is his mission over the next four years, to find more power and lots of it.

Media caption,

Rhona Lloyd scores for Scotland v England

'It was about more than just the game'

So what to make of a day which delivered history for Scottish women's sport, as well as a 12-try demolition?

It is true, England are not the benchmark for Scotland.

Victory away to Wales last week was a solid start, and now it is all about the response in Italy next week and trying to beat Ireland in the final game, either side of a home game against France.

But all performances are crucial to building momentum and keeping the fans coming back, as Malcolm herself said.

Just ask the Scotland women's football team, who have seen crowds shrink back at Hampden amid a struggle to qualify for major finals.

The Scotland captain, as ever, got the tone spot on when summing up a strange day.

"Today was about so much more than just the game," Malcolm said. "For those of us that have been around 10 years plus - we've come from back pitches with a couple of people in stands.

"To even arrive today and get the reception we got was phenomenal. It's a result of the work we've done as players on the pitch to put in performances that make people want to come back.

"Today wasn't one of them. But that doesn't take away from what we've created over the last 10 years to make this happen.

"We're at the beginning of a new journey. We're going to keep pushing to get back to that point to put in a performance in that stadium that fans can be proud of."