Celtic Challenge: Glasgow aim to turn the tables on Edinburgh in Scotstoun showdown
02/14/2025 06:18 AM
GLASGOW got their first points of the season this week when the Celtic Challenge decreed that their game against the Clovers, postponed last month because of Storm Eowyn, should be recorded as a 0-0 draw. But what the Warriors really want is a win to call their own – and from their point of view the game against Edinburgh at Scotstoun tomorrow (Saturday) would be the ideal time to get it.
On paper, the omens are not great for the home side. Having lost all their games in the tournament last season and picked up just one try bonus point in the process, Glasgow began this season with a 63-15 defeat by their Scottish rivals. But, while their losing streak has continued, Lindsey Smith, who took over as head coach last summer, is convinced that her squad are becoming more resilient as they grow accustomed to the standard of competition.
"We've definitely improved,” she says. “It takes a bit of time to build connections with each other, both on and off the field. We pulled a group of players together with about two weeks of preparation before we played our first game.
"We're giving players opportunities to play at a higher level that some of them have never experienced before. For example, we've got Poppy Mellanby, who is a 17-year-old schoolgirl – and she doesn't look out of place.
"That's a real positive for me. It's been a tough season, but things like that balance it out a little bit and show there are positives to come out of it.
"Everybody is learning. We will obviously lean on the older, more experienced players to help the younger players coming through. But I'd say that everyone has been challenged, everyone has been stretched, and everyone has an opportunity to learn and improve as a rugby player."
In that first game against Edinburgh, Glasgow began very positively, racing into a 10-0 lead before being overwhelmed by the home team. But in subsequent games the reverse has been the case, with the team playing their best rugby late in the game, so it is little wonder that, ahead of tomorrow’s encounter, Smith’s emphasis has been on the need to maintain a high standard of play from first to last.
“It's about putting a full 80-minute performance in – one that we can be proud of,” she says. "We've proved that we can score points. We've shown that we can come back in the second half – now it's about what we do at the start of a game. That's what I'll be looking for this weekend – how they come out from the kick-off.
"And there has been progress from game one to now. We've gelled as a team, people know each other – some people didn't know each other before we played our first game. I'm obviously looking forward to Saturday and it would be pretty nice to beat Edinburgh at home.
"I see the difference from game one to now. We have got better, and I can't fault any of their effort and application at training. It is sometimes just about that game shock and the exposure to playing at that level. People are running faster at you, people are hitting you harder, than maybe you have ever experienced before, and that is a bit of an adjustment for some of them. So we're very much building, but we see improvement every week and for me that is success."
One problem for both Scottish teams is the quality of the opposition, especially the two Irish sides, the Wolfhounds and Clovers. Of the 40 women named by Ireland head coach Scott Bemand for the forthcoming Six Nations, 33 are competing in the Celtic Challenge. By contrast, Scotland’s professionals play in England, and although several were released on occasion to Glasgow and Edinburgh last season, this time round such opportunities to draw on their experience have been far fewer, as Edinburgh head coach Claire Cruikshank points out.
"To go out and do it against the Irish is a challenge, of course it is,” she says. “I think that Clovers team we played a couple of weeks ago had over 100 international caps. That's a new challenge for a young group, but it's exciting as well. As a coach or a young player you want to test yourself against the best, and that's what we're doing.
"We've spoken about it as a group, and it’s about how they can learn and develop and adapt to situations without maybe having that experienced leader like Jenny Maxwell, Lisa Thomson, Caity Mattinson, Fi McIntosh” – all of whom guested for Edinburgh last season. “They've got vast years of experience in playing rugby and have been in situations that maybe some of our players haven't yet experienced. So our players are kind of learning on the job, which is tough, but they're battling really well and every week have been positive about how to fix things or change things. The average age is 20."
Edinburgh finished second in last season’s shorter competition, losing only once, but so far in this campaign they have suffered four defeats from six outings. Nonetheless, Cruikshank has seen significant individual growth, perhaps most notably winger Hannah Walker, who began the campaign with a hat-trick against the Warriors and has gone from strength to strength since.
"Hannah is top try-scorer in the competition, which says a lot. There are some really experienced international players in the competition, and to be top try-scorer in a team that in this moment in time is two from six is a real feat.
"She's dangerous, she's grown, she's developed over the last 18 months. Hannah was somebody who last year probably didn't get as many minutes as she wanted. She was on the bench quite a bit or sometimes not even in the 23. So she's bided her time and she's worked hard away from the training environment and that's been really beneficial for her."
Cruikshank expects the Warriors will be desperate to win tomorrow, and knows her team can take nothing for granted. "I'd be very surprised if this wasn't a huge one for them and a target for them. We've got a target on our backs, for sure, so we need to play well, because they showed in that first game what they can do, and they've been progressing through the competition as well. We definitely can't take them lightly at all, and we can't just go on the back of previous results. We've got to turn up and perform."
Scrum-half Rachel Law will make her debut for the visitors, as will Emily Love if she comes off the bench. Ami Conchie makes her first start on the wing, while tighthead prop Molly Poolman returns from suspension.
In the home line-up, Emily Norval makes her debut on the wing, and Poppy Fletcher and Rianna Darroch could also make their first appearances off the bench. Ceitidh Ainsworth returns at stand-off.
Glasgow Warriors (v Edinburgh at Scotstoun, Saturday 2pm): Poppy Mellanby; Abi Evans, Orla Proctor, Briar McNamara, Emily Norval; Ceitidh Ainsworth, Mairi McDonald; Ailie Tucker (captain), Aicha Sutcliffe, Katie Lindsay, Holland Bogan, Kate Yeomans, Freya Walker, Gemma Bell, Emily Coubrough. Replacements: Megan Hyland, Poppy Fletcher, Eilidh Fleming, Aisha Zameer, Eilidh MacGilvray, Rianna Darroch, Lisa Martin, Millie Warren.
Edinburgh: Nicole Marlow; Ami Conchie, Lisa Brown, Lucy MacRae, Hannah Walker; Hannah Ramsay, Rachel Law; Chloe Brown, Aila Ronald, Molly Poolman, Adelle Ferrie, Natasha Logan, Merryn Gunderson, Alex Stewart (captain), Samaanther Taganekurukuru. Replacements: Karis Craig, Talei Tawake, Megan Riach, Charlotte Fosbeary, Faye Sutherland, Emily Love, Sarah Denholm, Lucia Scott.
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