Munro’s mission to improve Scots starts to pay off

Hence the scenes of unalloyed joy at Broadwood Stadium last February when a Sarah Law penalty three minutes from time completed a dramatic fightback against Wales and gave the Scots their first Six Nations victory since 2010. It was all the sweeter for the fact they had been denied a draw against Ireland three weeks earlier only by a last-gasp try. And with that precious win under their belts, they then went on to secure another, the following month, when they beat Italy 14-12.

You can take a lot about performance, but it ultimately counts for nothing when the other team keeps scoring more points than you. For Shade Munro, the Scotland women’s head coach, those two wins last year blasted a psychological barrier out of the way, giving his side a belief that had lain dormant for years.

“We can now mentione the word ‘win’,” Munro explains. “They were almost scared of that initially. When you finally get over that line then it is then about winning again. Can you win again and make it a habit?

“But they have to realise they have not cracked it. They won two games by a point or two; they could just as easily have lost those games. Ireland, Wales and Italy are improving so we have to continue to improve as well.”

The fact that Munro, whose time as assistant coach at Glasgow Warriors ended on a high when they won the Guinness PRO12 title in 2015, does not mention England or France is significant. For while Italy and the Celtic sides gave Scotland close games last year, the clashes with the English and French could hardly be described in those terms. France beat Munro’s team 55-0, while England’s Kay Wilson set a Six Nations record as she contributed seven tries to her side’s 64-0 thrashing of the Scots.

There is a tacit admission that the Six Nations is a two-speed competition now. “Ireland, Wales and Italy are the teams we are aiming to compete against,” is Munro’s assessment of the situation. This season, all three of those games are away from home for the Scots — it follows the same pattern as the men’s competition — starting with their clash with Wales in Colwyn Bay next Friday.

It is a tough ask, but the Scots have toughened up. Last year, they went into the Six Nations with just one professional player, but Jade Konkel has now been joined by Chloe Rollie, Lisa Thomson and Sarah Law. Moreover, Konkel, Rollie and Thomson now play their club rugby with Lille Metropole, one of the best sides in France, while a number of other players are attached to top English teams.

The academy system through which the best young players now pass is a year older as well, but women’s rugby worldwide is improving in every area at breakneck pace. “It’s not rocket science to work out that we need to improve quicker than the likes of Wales and Italy,” Munro says. “If we continue to do that then we will be more likely to beat them. That’s the idea: we keep working hard, keep training hard, spend as much time together as possible and we will hopefully achieve that.”

When Munro took over the Scotland coaching role in 2015, he inherited a team playing something close to social rugby. His job has been as much about changing that culture as working on strength or skills or speed. It was a necessary step. “I wouldn’t be doing the job if it was [still] like that,” he says. “It can’t be like that. When you put on a Scottish jersey you don’t want to be a joke. They are definitely not that now. They are a good bunch, good people, and they work hard.

“Initially, there were very few get-togethers, no competitive games, and they were literally going into the Six Nations off the back of a camp. We have brought in club games against English sides, playing friendly internationals — we’ve had two this season and we would have had another against Spain [last weekend, but snow stopped play]. All of those things are an add-on to what we had two years ago. It makes a difference, definitely.”

Curiously, although there are some new faces in the squad, the more significant change has been positional, with Munro moving his best players into unfamiliar slots to free up space for others. For instance, Konkel, easily the most impressive player in the squad, is being trialled at prop rather than the No 8 position she occupied last year.

Munro says: “They may end up in their original positions, but I have options there. The idea is to get as many of the fittest, fastest, strongest and best players on the pitch at the one time.”