Scotland qualify for Rugby World Cup

Scotland have secured the final spot at this year’s Rugby World Cup after beating Colombia 59-3.

Rachel Malcolm’s side were big favourites going into the match – Scotland are ninth in the world rankings compared to Colombia in 25th – and they delivered a nine-try performance in Dubai.

The victory means they will play in Pool A alongside hosts New Zealand, Australia and Wales at the global showpiece, which takes place in October and November this year.

It’s the first time in 12 years that the Scots have qualified for the World Cup having missed out in 2014 and 2017, and Malcolm described it as “the best feeling of my entire life”.

Colombia had done phenomenally well to reach this Rugby World Cup final qualifying tournament having only played their first Test in 2019. They beat Brazil, Kenya and Kazakhstan to get to this point, but were ultimately outplayed by a more experienced team.

The South Americans couldn’t cope with the power and precision of Scotland, particularly in the set-piece, where the Scots dominated in the scrum and the lineout drive.

Scotland drive Colombia back at a scrum (Getty Images)

Sarah Law kicked two early penalties before Lisa Thomson scored the Scots’ first try in the tenth minute. Megan Gaffney crossed in the corner in the 17th minute following a strong driving maul. Rhona Lloyd and Law also scored first-half tries either side of a penalty from Maria Isabel Aruzaga to give Scotland a 28-3 half-time lead.

Gaffney had grabbed her second just four minutes after the break, with Law adding the conversion. Further tries followed from Jade Konkel and Lana Skeldon, the first from a scrum powering over the line and the second from a lineout maul.

In the last quarter, Emma Wills and Molly Wright both came off the bench to add to the try tally in a comfortable victory.

The line-up for the World Cup, which was due to take place last year but was postponed until 2022 because of the pandemic, is now complete.

Pool A: New Zealand, Australia, Wales, Scotland.

Pool B: Canada, USA, Italy, Japan.

Pool C: England, France, South Africa, Fiji.

The tournament, with matches played in Auckland and Whangarei, takes place from 8 October to 12 November 2022.

Related: Women’s Rugby World Cup Fixtures

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