Canada’s women completed their European tour with a 34-4 win over Scotland women at Hawick, in a match for world ranking points. The Ravens again dominated defensively, conceding only one try over their two matches. Centre Maddy Aberg posted a hat trick as Canada ran in seven tries. “I’m very pleased with the result,” said Ravens’ head coach Matty Barron. “Maddy was outstanding and Tamisha Toussaint came off the bench in the middle to give us some much needed go forward and physicality.
“The tour has been very useful for us in that we needed to continue the momentum we built at World Series as we look to improve our rankings. It also gave us chance to identify new players from our provincial pathways and test them at this level. We would certainly love to test ourselves against France and England, our players would relish the opportunity.” Scotland – in their first home game – led initially, winger Caitlin Cox opening the scoring as the hosts moved the ball right, Enya Lackie firing the final pass.
Dani Franada responded shortly afterwards with a clever kick into the in-goal which she chased and grounded, Cassie Mann denied a further Canada score moments later when she knocked on with the line open. Franada’s perfectly weighted kick to the corner was scooped up by Aberg for her first, Petra Woods finding space on the left edge to move Canada further ahead and into a 14-4 half time lead.
Eight minutes after the break, Aberg went through two defenders as she took Natasha Naismith’s short pass and just after the hour, Ravens skipper Megan Pakulis wriggled her way out of a tackle to ground the ball to the left of the posts. With ten minutes to go, Aberg jinked and weaved through the Scottish defense to complete her treble and Gabrielle Hindley barged her way over with three minutes remaining, Naismith adding her third conversion.
Scotland women’s assistant coach, Gareth Nicholson, said: “We’re obviously disappointed with the result but can’t fault the girls’ efforts. We made too many errors which gave Canada opportunities and they punished us. “They’re a really good side with a lot of experience. For us, it’s important to remember that this is only our fifth match as nation, and we’ve won two of the four capped games. We’ve only been running 18 months so whilst disappointed, we’re not too downhearted. This is only the start of our journey.”
Scotland 4
Evie Tonkin, Caitlin Cox, Kacie Currie, Enya Lackie, Rebecca Smart, Emma Welsford, Cerys Gregory, Kaiya Glynn, Abi Gordon, Georgie Briggs, Chalotte Hill, Ciorstaidh Ainsworth, Rebecca Moffa
Interchanges: Ellie Garside, Steph Gray, Nicole Stewart, Robyn Price
Try: Cox (9)
Goal: Smart 0/1
Canada 34
Petra Woods, Brittany Jones, Maddy Aberg, Sara Canini, Erika Scott, Dani Franada, Natasha Naismith, Sarah Magure, Alanna Fittes, Hannah Tonet, Gabrielle Hindley, Lorae Benoit, Megan Pakulis
Interchanges: Savannah Bacchus, Cassie Mann, Tamisha Toussaint, Payton McNeil
Tries: Franada (14), Aberg (25, 48, 68), Woods (30), Pakulis (63), Hindley (77)
Goals: Naismith 3/7
Referee: Tyler Topping (England)
Half Time: 4-14
