Women’S Team Announced For Dutch Fixture

Following the first full training weekend for the Scotland Women squad (15 & 16 October), the team has been selected for the side’s first fixture of the season, against Netherlands Women in Amsterdam on Sunday 6 November. Making their debut for the national side will be winger Sarah Dixon (Stirling County) and scrum-half Sarah Sexton (Murrayfield Wanderers) while the announcement of a place on the bench is a welcome birthday present for flanker Lana Skeldon (Melrose), who turns 18 today. Photo: The Scotland Women squad 2011/12  Fellow substitutes scrum-half Hollie Davidson (Edinburgh University), who moves up from Scotland Women under-20,  and winger Megan Gaffney (Murrayfield Wanderers) are also poised to make their debut. Head coach Karen Findlay said: The Netherlands fixture provides us with a great opportunity to see what some new players to the squad can do and put all the hard work the players have been doing over the summer to the test.Susie McKerlie-Hex has been developing as a front row forward while Lana Skeldon, who has come through the under-20 programme, is new to the squad and both are exciting prospects. Similarly Lisa Richie at 10 has done well during the two Scotland Series games which have provided the coaching team with opportunities to see players competing in regular higher quality matches and have enabled players to really show what they can do.The selected team are in no doubt that the Netherlands match will be a tough test, particularly given that Holland have had a dedicated sevens squad, now playing together for some time, who have worked hard on their skill set and conditioning. So if any of those players are involved in their team selection, it’s going to take us to be on our game, 1 to 22, to get a result.But that’s exactly the kind of challenge our new squad needs.Scotland have met their Dutch counterparts on four previous occasions, most recently in 2009 when the Scots won 38-18. Scotland Women to play Netherlands Women on Sunday 6 November, at the National Rugby Stadium, Amsterdam, kick-off 1pm local time 15 Stephanie Johnston (RHC)14 Lauren Harris (Melrose)13 Caroline Collie (OA Saints)12 Laura Steven (Murrayfield Wanderers)11 Sarah Dixon (Stirling County)10 Lisa Ritchie (Carlisle) 9 Sarah Sexton (Murrayfield Wanderers) 1 Heather Lockhart (Hillhead / Jordanhill)2 Sarah Quick (Murrayfield Wanderers)3 Tracy Balmer (Worcester)4 Lindsay Wheeler (Richmond)5 Anna Swan (RHC)6 Charlotte Veale (London Wasps)7 Ruth Slaven (Murrayfield Wanderers)8 Susannah Brown (Richmond) (Captain) Substitutes16 Alison Macdonald (RHC)17 Suzanne McKerlie-Hex (Murrayfield Wanderers)18 Jemma Forsyth (Hillhead / Jordanhill)19 Lana Skeldon (Melrose)20 Hollie Davidson (Edinburgh University)21 Katy Green (Murrayfield Wanderers)22 Megan Gaffney (Murrayfield Wanderers)