Drawing on positives ahead of Wales

Scotland Women are focused on lifting their game when they welcome Wales to Broadwood Stadium for the third round of the Women’s Six Nations. The mood in camp remains positive and there is a real belief among the Scots who have a blend of experience and youth preparing to push their Welsh counterparts for the full 80 minutes.  Wing Rhona Lloyd is among the younger players having made her debut against England in last year’s Championship.”When I was picked to be in the team it was a bit of a shock I didn’t’ really expect it,” she said.”It was a bit overwhelming. I feel a lot more prepared this year.”The 20-year-old has started all nine of her Scotland caps and is set to face Wales for the third time in her short international career. The most recent clash last October was a friendly which Wales won 15-0.”There’s a couple of new players since we played them last in Cardiff and we are better prepared,” Lloyd said.  “We are ready for it, it’s belief as well after how we played against Ireland everyone felt like we can win games.”She’s also embracing the prospect of facing an Olympian with Jasmine Joyce set to make her Wales debut after featuring in rugby 7s for Team GB in Rio last summer.”She’s opposite me and I’m really excited for the challenge. I don’t feel the pressure, I feel it’s a chance for me to show what I can do against an Olympian and I’m sure the other girls are the same. “Lloyd’s pace out wide has seen her cross the whitewash twice for Scotland – her first try came in last year’s Six Nations finale against Ireland and second in Madrid in the Rugby World Cup qualifier versus Spain.With the synthetic surface at Broadwood and vocal support behind them, she’s hoping Scotland can capitalise on opportunities and get over the line following a difficult encounter in La Rochelle a fortnight ago.”France away is notoriously a really tough fixture,” Lloyd reflected.”We did OK in the first half and started the second half on the back foot – we lost ourselves a bit.”I think what was really positive, the next day we said we wanted to go back to our mind-set, our focus that we had against Ireland.”We know we can play a lot better than how we did against France.  Tackling has been a big focus and I think we are back on track.”It was the first time I had played France away. Other players had said it’s really loud and it can be intimidating. It wasn’t until I was on the pitch that what everyone said was totally right.”It was a difficult experience but ultimately good to have. It’s just a shame we didn’t show what we are capable of.”Get along to Broadwood Stadium for a double-header of international rugby tomorrow night.Scotland Women v Wales Women kick-off at 6.20pm, followed by Scotland U20 v Wales U20 at 8.30pm.Adult tickets are£10 (valid for both matches) and available HERE. Senior citizens, U18s and Scotland Season Pass holders go free.