SCOTLAND’S Six Nations clash with Ireland last year will be remembered not only for the team finishing with consecutive wins after 12 straight defeats, but also for the stunning solo try scored by Francesca McGhie.

McGhie announced herself on the international stage as she slalomed through the Irish defence to score her first test try as Scotland sealed a 36-10 win in Edinburgh.

Ireland gained a measure of revenge with a 15-12 win on Saturday but McGhie had the opportunity to look back on a whirlwind 12 months ahead of the clash in Belfast.

The 20-year-old said: “It was certainly quite special.

“It was definitely funny waking up in the morning and seeing how many people had started following you, how many people would comment on things.

“It happened fast but I didn’t really think about it too much. It just sort of happened.”

It capped a remarkable rise for someone who only started playing rugby in 2018 for East Lothian and Borders Girls, based at Preston Lodge, before moving to Watsonians the following year.

She signed with Leicester Tigers ahead of the Premiership Women’s Rugby season and is one of several Scotland caps among the Tigers squad.

She admitted that was a big decision, but that playing in the top flight of English rugby had helped improve her game.

“I definitely made the right decision,” McGhie, who won her 12th cap at Kingspan Stadium, added.

She added: “Leicester has been a real fundamental step in the right direction for my rugby.

“Playing week in, week out against players who all play for different nations – it’s always going to make you a better player.

“Whether you have a good game, whether you win or not, it’s always a good step.”

The winger missed the first two matches of Scotland’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations campaign with pneumonia but returned from the bench against England before securing starting spots for the last two matches.

She said: “I’d been ill for a couple of weeks before the campaign started.

“I had actually broken my thumb and had to go to hospital, and I think I got a chest infection from there.

“It just never went away and I ended up with pneumonia.

“Coming off the bench against England, I was just happy to be running about again and not having to go and sleep for a couple of hours afterwards just being so tired.”

During the championship, McGhie, of Musselburgh, was one of three Scotland players – alongside centurion Donna Kennedy and Lisa Thomson – to be honoured with statues to commemorate their place as ‘trailblazers’ in the game.

McGhie, who was a dancer with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland before getting into rugby, said seeing the giant blue statue on the streets of Edinburgh, then at Hive Stadium, was a surreal moment.

She said: “I wouldn’t have thought of myself as a trailblazer like they describe it, I’ve only just come to rugby really.

“It was quite an incredible experience – one, getting it done, and then two, to see it on Castle Street and then at the Hive, people taking photos of it, yeah, it was amazing. It is a very weird thought that there is a statue of myself out there.”

Defeat in Belfast denied Scotland not only the opportunity to finish third in the Six Nations but also deprived them of a spot in WXV1 and the chance to seal a quick qualification for next year’s Rugby World Cup.