Italy v Scotland WXV 2: Preview

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - SEPTEMBER 24: Rachel Malcolm of Scotland and Elisa Giordano of Italy during the Captain's Photocall ahead of WXV 2 on September 24, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Johan Rynners - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

What the coach said

“The pre-season has gone really well, we have worked really hard. The players have worked really hard around contact and conditioning and I think we saw that pay off in our two Vodafone Series games, I thought we were in good shape. We’ve been really pleased with the transfer from training to the pitch.

“We’re here to defend our title. This is a new tournament, a new year but the performances we have been putting in from the last 10 to 15 games show that we are growing. We have some great memories from here last time, we won three games and that is what we are aiming to do again.

“Everyone has put their hand up for selection, we’ve picked a 23 really great players and the seven who aren’t involved have been really putting on that pressure, but we’ve picked a team we believe can win us the game against Italy.”

How the teams line up

The previous meetings

Italy 10 – 17 Scotland, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma (2024)
Scotland 29 – 21 Italy, DAM Health Stadium, Edinburgh (2023)
Italy 20 – 13 Scotland, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma (2022)
Italy 38 – 13  Scotland Women, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma (2021)
Scotland 20 – 41 Italy, Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow (2021)

The stats

• Captain Rachel Malcolm will earn her 50^th cap in Cape Town against Italy, eight years on from her Scotland debut in 2016.
• During the Guinness Women’s Six Nations 2024, Scotland had a scrum success of 85% through the duration of the tournament, ahead of Italy by 3%.
• A win over Italy would make Scotland’s first time of recording three consecutive wins in the space of three years over Italy since 1999.