Encouraged and proud’ of Scotland Women

Scotland Women Head Coach Shade Munro has praised his team’s performance against Ireland, who claimed a victory at Broadwood Stadium with a last gasp try in the Six Nations opener on Friday. A brace of tries from number 8 Jade Konkel, the first Scot to do so since 2010, and points through the boot of scrum-half Sarah Law saw Scotland go into the break with a 15-10 lead.Ireland equalised with try number three while Scotland were down to 14 players in the third quarter following a yellow card. A converted try in the last play of the game sealed the win and a bonus point to top the table after round one.Scotland also claimed a bonus point by keeping within seven points, even after missing two conversions and a penalty. They are fourth on the table above Italy and France.While Scotland were unable to hold onto the 15-15 draw, they continued to reduce the historic deficit against Ireland who are currently fourth in the World Rugby rankings.Scotland suffered a 70-point loss in 2015 (73-3), they reduced the deficit to 33 points last year (45-12) and closed the gap to seven points this year (22-15).Munro said: “We gave a full 80-minute performance which is what we asked for. Ireland are an extremely good team so we were aware of the challenges they possessed.While we are very disappointed to lose the game in the last seconds, in the cold light of day there were a lot of positives and I’m very encouraged and proud of the effort they put in.Our defence was consistent, we scored early in the first half and there was much more control, much more accuracy.”I think confidence is certainly growing and performances are getting better. It’s not come as a shock to them, it’s just a natural progression. We are not quite there but we will keep working hard.The team quickly turned their focus to what needs to be done in La Rochelle this Saturday against France. The Scots stood up to the physicality of the French at Broadwood last year and kept Les Bleues at bay until just before the end of the first half when the visitors scored.France won the match 24-0 and went on to win the 2016 Championship. However, they are sitting bottom of the table after suffering a 26-13 loss to England at Twickenham on Saturday.Munro added: “The players talked about France in the changing room after the match. We need to learn from our mistakes, learn from the game itself and apply it in France. To play them over there is going to be extremely tough but we’re looking forward to it.”Read the full match report HERE. Tickets for Scotland Women’s next home game at Broadwood Stadium against Wales on Friday 24 Februrary are on sale HERE.