WXV

Scotland (10) 10

Tries: Gallagher Cons: Nelson Pens: Nelson

Australia (5) 30

Tries: Miller, Wood, Hoy, Moleko Cons: Wood 2 Pens: Wood 2

Scotland suffered a third successive defeat in the WXV Global Series as clinical Australia proved too strong in Edinburgh.

After losses against Canada and New Zealand – ranked two and three in the world – hopes were high the Scots could get off the mark against the side one place below them in the world rankings.

Despite leading 10-5 at the break, Scotland could not live with the rampant Wallaroos, who ran in three tries in a devastating eight-minute second-half spell to secure a comfortable win.

The sides meet again in Sydney next weekend.

Evie Gallagher, following her two tries against New Zealand last weekend, gave Scotland the lead on 15 minutes, dotting down to round off a period of pressure on the Australian line.

The hosts were on top, with Meryl Smith in midfield and lock Holland Bogan carrying hard and asking questions of the Australian defence, but loose work at the line-out cost Dave Butcher’s team some promising attacking positions.

The Wallaroos grew into the game as the half wore on and hit back with a well-worked try. Scotland repelled a rolling line-out maul close to their own line, but the visitors remained patient and spun the ball wide for Georgina Friedrichs to put Desiree Miller over in the corner.

The Scots hit back immediately when Australia were penalised for holding on straight from the restart, and Helen Nelson banged over a penalty to give her side a five-point lead at the break.

However, Australia flew out of the blocks after the interval and turned the game on its head with three tries in quick succession.

The first came when a rolling line-out maul was halted just short and scrum-half Samantha Wood was on hand to dive over. She converted her own try to nudge the visitors in front for the first time, and it was a double blow for Scotland as Gallagher was sin-binned for illegally bringing down the initial maul.

With the numerical advantage, the Wallaroos came on strong as Brianna Hoy and then Faitala Moleko cut through to score and put the visitors in charge at 24-10.

Wood knocked over a penalty to put Australia beyond two scores and added another late on to cap off a dominant second half from the Wallaroos.

Scrum-half Seren Lockwood has been ruled out of Wales’ second WXV Global Series fixture, against USA in Cardiff on Saturday, after failing a head injury assessment.

Lockwood was taken off during the first half of Wales’ eight-try victory over South Africa and is now going through World Rugby’s return to play protocols.

It is a blow for Wales with Lockwood and Keira Bevan proving a promising half-back partnership in a new-look backline.

Her absence paves the way for Lleucu George to return at 10, with Bevan reverting to her usual position of nine at Cardiff Arms Park.

“It’s always sad to see an individual coming off, but the HIA is great to have on board, we’re looking after her,” said Wales head coach Sean Lynn.

“She’s not going to be available this weekend, but I’m super excited to see the half-back combination that we’ve got this week.”

On the appointment of Edwards, England head coach John Mitchell said: “Since his time with France ended, we have had a conversation about our game, and he expressed an interest in working in an international women’s set-up for the first time.

“He has a huge amount of respect for the Red Roses and what we stand for; he sees it as a privilege to join our environment.

“His coaching credentials are exceptional and his experience at the highest level of the game speaks for itself.

“Defensively, Sarah Hunter is relishing the opportunity to learn from him, alongside the rest of our coaching group, as we head into another exciting Test match against New Zealand.”

Last week, Edwards expressed his desire to return to coaching and be a part of next year’s men’s Six Nations.

“I’m def­in­itely open to offers now, until I sort out a full-time role,” he told the Daily Mail., external

“I’m a proud Englishman and everybody loves to represent their country, don’t they? I’m no different.”

Wales face USA, who like South Africa are ranked above Wales, on Saturday, 26 September, also at Cardiff Arms Park, in their second outing of the new WXV campaign.

And while Wales will enjoy their deserved celebrations, co-captain Kate Williams is already talking about the importance of backing the performance up.

“After all of the tough times we have been through, as a team and Welsh rugby generally, we are going to keep working for the positive feeling to continue,” she said.

“What we want out of this WXV Series is more wins.

“Today just proved that what we’ve been doing works and we’ll be able to change our gameplan for USA next week.”

Lynn will be waiting on the fitness of scrum-half Seren Lockwood after she failed to return to the pitch after a head injury assessment, but he could be boosted by the return of Carys Cox, who gives him another exciting option in the backline.

Until then, he and Wales will enjoy victory before the work starts again on Monday.