MANCHESTER – Scotland took a big step towards the quarterfinals with an impressive 38-8 victory over Wales in their opening match of Pool B at the Salford Community Stadium on Saturday.

Story of the match

Francesca McGhie, the pick of Scotland’s exciting backline, scored a try at the start of each half, the second – after a brilliant step and pass from fellow wing Rhona Lloyd – completing her hat-trick as well as securing a four-try bonus point that could prove vital in a competitive-looking pool.

Further second-half tries from Evie Gallagher and Emma Orr confirmed Scotland’s dominance.

Wales, who ran Scotland close in a high-scoring thriller during the 2025 Women’s Six Nations Championship, enjoyed dominance in the scrum, but too many handling errors and a faltering lineout cost them.

Their only try came through captain Alex Callender in the first half off the back of a driving maul.

Mastercard Player of the Match

Wing Francesca McGhie was the pick of Scotland's impressive backs, scoring a hat-trick of tries.

“We didn’t think it was going to be easy against the Welsh, it’s always a close game," she said. "We knew what we needed to get out of the game and we absolutely performed on that.

“We spoke about a fast start. We said let’s get the first score and play from there, and that’s exactly what we did.

Coach insight

Bryan Easson said victory was massive in the context of Pool B: “We understood the magnitude of this game and concentrated really hard," the Scotland head coach said. "We got it just right. There was energy all the way through to the end of the game. When we stuck to plan, I thought we made Wales look pretty ordinary.

“Ruthless was our word for the week. We knew that if we kept the ball and got into their red zone, we would win. First half, we probably overplayed a bit, but I thought we got that perfectly right in the second half."

Wales head coach Sean Lynn, meanwhile, could not hide his disappointment: "Full credit to Scotland, they just bullied us off the park, at the breakdown especially. I just said to the girls, we can’t keep saying we’re going to be a hard team to beat, because that ain’t good enough.

“We showed some good moments there, but our physicality and some skill accuracy wasn’t there."

Stat of the Day

30 - Scotland’s winning margin against Wales was their biggest at the Rugby World Cup since beating Russia 51-0 in 1994.

Next steps

Both teams are back in Manchester for a double-header on Saturday, 30 August. Another bonus-point victory for Scotland against Fiji will give them a quarterfinal place. Wales must somehow find a performance against No.2-ranked team Canada.