Captain’S Blog: Improved Against Ireland – Must Do Better!

Scotland Women’s captain Susie Brown looks back at Saturday’s game against Ireland, explains the David Sole entrance and BOD’s words of wisdom, and packs in a few job interviews en route to the game!   Our game against Ireland was a step up from our two previous performances and we were right in the mix at half time going in at 5-5 after a determined defensive effort. I think we showed progress and demonstrated that we had taken on board the lessons from the previous tests. Losing always hurts and we didn’t capitalise on the pressure and possession we had in the second half when we spent time in the Irish 22. They are a quality side and took advantage of their opportunities to score three unanswered tries in the second half. It was a very special day for Heather Lockhart who was awarded her 50th cap. She is a special individual and I was so proud to walk out behind her. The match report noted her ‘David Sole’ leading-out of the team. When I asked Heather about this after the match she said it wasn’t intentional she just wasn’t sure the mascot would be able keep up if she ran! As a gift from the team we presented her with a framed photo montage charting her career which was organised by previous Scotland Women captain, Lynne Reid. It was great to have her and many other former Scotland players support us on the day. Brian O’Driscoll once said, “You train, you eat, you sleep and you play; there isn’t a lot of room for anything else.” I am tempted to agree with him but in the week before the Ireland match I also managed to squeeze in a whistle-stop tour of Northern Ireland along with two job interviews. For the record, I wouldn’t advise job hunting in the middle of the Six Nations but the experience serves to remind me that life doesn’t stop just because we are playing rugby!I was lucky enough to attend the men’s match on Sunday; the build-up to kick-off was fantastic – the sound of that many sets of pipes playing Highland Cathedral had the hair on the back of my neck standing up. Murrayfield is a wonderful stadium and was packed to the rafters including a fair few Irish fans who are always big followers of their team. While the result wasn’t what the nation was hoping for the exciting end to the match had everyone glued to their seats. This week it has been back into training with our attention on the England game. With a two week match break our schedule has been slightly heavier again with a training taper beginning next week taking us into the match. This weekend sees us meeting up in Edinburgh to continue our defence shape work. These training days are vital as with a new squad it always takes time for patterns to imbed.  I can’t believe we are over halfway – this championship really is flying by!