Scotland Women are well placed to continue their impressive recent development, but cannot afford to get complacent, according to forwards coach and former international Fraser Brown.
Under head coach Bryan Easson, Scotland had a run of seven consecutive Test wins from 2023 into 2024, including an unbeaten WXV2 campaign.
They finished fourth in this year’s Six Nations, beating Wales and Italy, and could have finished higher were it not for a narrow defeat away to Ireland.
Running France close was evidence of how Scotland have closed the gap to the traditionally stronger international sides, and Brown – who retired from playing earlier this year – has been impressed by the talent on show since he joined Easson’s set-up four weeks ago.
“I’ve been a player for a long time, done some coaching, done a little bit in the women’s game, but you never know what to expect coming into a new environment,” the 35-year-old said.
“Week one was a little bit different to what I’m used to experiencing, but the last couple of weeks have been brilliant. The players have been excellent, really receptive and they’ve worked really hard.
“I’ve been really impressed. We’ve got some good athletes, skilful athletes as well, and more importantly we’ve got some really hard workers.
“I didn’t know where our knowledge and understanding would be in terms of some of the things we’re looking to bring in; all the players have absorbed it and run with it.
“The first two weeks there were a lot of new ideas, but particularly last week I was really impressed with how they’ve adapted and started to take ownership of what we’re asking.”