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Scotland v England: Women’s Six Nations rugby union – live | Women’s Six Nations
Key events
5 min: It’s all Scotland. England haven’t touched the back except to kick it from deep. Clarke on the ball again. They keep possession but don’t make much ground. Just no punch so Nelson kicks from hand but overcooks it. She hoofs it straight out which will hand England a line-out 10 metres inside their own half.
3 min: And it’s held up! Clarke was on the ball and she had support from behind as she pushed forward. She manages to wriggle away from the contact and gets over the line, but three English players hold her up and they get a relieving clearing kick from their goal line.
3 min: The scrum doesn’t get going and it collapses, giving Scotland a free-kick. They’ll tap and go from right in front….
1 min: From the kick-off, Sing’s clearing kick doesn’t go long so Scotland can launch off the line-out. They make great ground off first-phase strike play and Coubrough is away. But they soon knock on five metres short of England’s line as they looked to gather through the phases. Promising, but that’s a sloppy miss from the Scots and a wasted opportunity to land an early blow.
Kick off!
Really looking forward to seeing how Short, on debut at 6, gets on.
Murrayfield is bathed in beautiful sunshine. The crowd is buzzing. All the ingredients there. Can the players deliver?
And they’re off!
Maud Muir leads the teams out on the occasion of her 50th cap.
She is beaming the BIGGEST smile you will ever see. What a vibe!
England’s defence coach, Sarah Hunter, speaks on the long, long, list of absentees from the side:
It’s quite unheard of within an England squad over the years. As a coaching squad, we’re taking it in our stride.
It gives an opportunity to someone else and the great thing about our squad is that whoever comes in is welcomed and fits in.
If we think about it in a four-year cycle [between World Cups], it’s almost good that we’re having this situation now, that we can grow and develop some of the younger players coming through who might be there in four years’ time.
It might be accelerating them a little bit, but all of the players who have come in have been playing brilliantly for their clubs in PWR. They’ve been a credit to this group and it’s exciting that they get the opportunity.
There are 24 Scottish players in the wider 38-woman group who ply their trade in England’s PWR.
I don’t think that will count for much, but it does show that coaches in the best league in the world rate them.
Another Women’s Six Nations game, another record crowd.
This is the first time more than 30,000 tickets have been sold for a Scotland home game.
How about some stats I’ve dug up (pulled straight from Scottish Rugby’s own website):
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England (57%) and Scotland (55%) had the highest territory rates of any sides in Round One of this year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
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Scotland had the highest ruck success rate of any side in last weekend’s fixtures (97.8%), while England’s average attacking ruck speed of 2.56 seconds was the quickest of any team last time out.
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Scotland (5/5) and England (8/8) were two of three sides not to lose a single scrum on their own put-in during the opening round of this year’s Championship (also France, 3/3).
Sarah Rendell – our eyes and ears on the ground today – has written a couple of banging pieces focussing on Scotland.
The first is a report from inside the Scottish camp as a contract dispute continues to bubble in the background:
The next is a preview looking ahead to this ‘landmark’ game:
England team
A trio of injured players – scrum-half Natasha Hunt, lock Morwenna Talling and back-rower Alex Matthews – who copped blows against Ireland, are unavailable.
Lucky for John Mitchell, his team is stacked with immense depth in every position.
Lucy Packer starts at 9 with a shuffle in the back row. Demelza Short makes her Red Roses debut in the 6 jersey with the aggressive Maddi Feaunati slotting in at the back of the pack.
Ellie Kildunne – who wasn’t quite at the races last week – shifts to wing as the impressive Emma Sing gets a shot at fullback.
Helena Rowland will play the creator at second receiver as the metronome that is Zoe Harrison will run things at 10.
England: Emma Sing; Jess Breach, Megan Jones (c), Helena Rowland, Ellie Kildunne; Zoe Harrison, Lucy Packer; Kelsey Clifford, Amy Cokayne, Maud Muir, Abi Burton, Lilli Ives Campion, Demelza Short, Sadia Kabeya, Maddie Feaunati.
Replacements: Connie Powell, Mackenzie Carson, Sarah Bern, Haineala Lutui, Marlie Packer, Flo Robinson, Holly Aitchison, Mia Venner.
Scotland team
Just one change to the team that did the business against Wales.
Evi Willis moves into midfield, replacing Emma Orr at outside centre.
The pack remains the same while Francesca McGhie and Rachel McLachlan occupy the bench having missed out on the match-day 23 last week.
Scotland: Chloe Rollie; Rhona Lloyd, Evie Willis, Meryl Smith, Shona Campbell; Helen Nelson, Leia Brebner-Holden; Leah Bartlett, Lana Skeldon, Elliann Clarke, Emma Wassell, Hollie Cunningham, Rachel Maclolm (c), Alex Stewart. Emily Coubrough.
Replacements: Elis Martin, Demi Swann, Molly Poolman, Holland Bogan, Rachel McLachlan, Rianna Darroch, Lucia Scott, Francesca McGhie.
Preamble
Hi everyone! Welcome to the second round of the 2026 Women’s Six Nations.
England have travelled north of the border in search of a 25th consecutive win over Scotland in the competition. And you wouldn’t bet against them, would you?
Scotland, though, will believe in miracles after they snatched a dramatic victory over Wales last week. Sure, this is a whole different kettle of fish. But momentum can play out in interesting ways in sport and, well, you never know. Right?
Oval Insights – a supercomputer of sorts, for those in the back – has predicted an English win by 35 points and give the visitors a 95% chance of leaving with all the marbles.
I guess it’s a question of how many today. But still plenty to play for as the improving Scots could show what they’re about with a performance to be proud of.
We’ll find out how they get on when things kick off at 1:30pm
Teams and other updates to come.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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