FRANCESCA McGhie admits it has been a “whirlwind” couple of years since she joined the Scotland squad, but the winger is loving every minute with the national team.  

McGhie’s try early in the second half of Friday’s win over Wales helped Scotland overturn a half-time deficit, while her second late on sealed a 40-14 win. 

The 21-year-old, who only took up rugby in 2018, reflected on her score early in the second period, scored after Alex Stewart forced a turnover, and Emma Orr kicked down field, allowing former dancer McGhie to show her pace, kick ahead and touch down.  

She said: “The rugby ball never seems to bounce in the direction that you want it to, but that one just about did and I was definitely happy to dive on it and dot it down it is always a pleasure scoring tries for Scotland. 

"It is great that when we come back up her and back together we can click pretty well straight away. 

“For that to be the first Test match of the season that we pulled out of the bag is pleasing. 

“We all knew that we had it in us and it was great to be back together and playing so well.” 

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Chloe Rollie crossed twice, while Meryl Smith also went over as Scotland put a youthful Welsh side to the sword in the second half.  

McGhie, of Musselburgh, said that ruthless streak is something Scotland have been working on.  

She added: “We want to be a clinical team. We don’t want to let things slip when we are on top of games and we didn’t do that here. 

"As I said, there were some mistakes, but we picked ourselves up from them and we made sure we got out of that game what we wanted.” 

McGhie is one of a crop of young players who have burst onto the scene in the past couple of years, with centre Emma Orr among the other outstanding players.  

Francesca McGhie (right) has struck up a great understanding with Emma OrrFrancesca McGhie (right) has struck up a great understanding with Emma Orr (Image: SNS)

And McGhie, who plays her club rugby for Leicester Tigers, said the pair have struck up a great relationship on and off the pitch.  

“She is a brilliant player and I am very lucky that she is my outside centre,” the Leicester Tigers wing said.   

“On and off the pitch we have got a good relationship so it makes it so much easier when you are on the pitch because you know what she wants from you and what you want from her and we communicate all the time. 

 “I think everyone finds it pretty easy to play alongside Emma - she is a brilliant player.” 

Scotland continue their preparations for their WXV 2 title defence in South Africa later this month when Fiji visit Hive Stadium on Saturday.  

It will be a first-ever Test meeting between the two sides, and while head coach Bryan Easson is expected to make changes to his team, McGhie hopes she gets the chance to face the Fijians.  

“We have never played Fiji before and I think it is going to be an exciting Test match like this one was. 

“Every week we go into games thinking about ourselves and how we want to come out feeling at the final whistle and we have things we need to work on.  

“We are just excited to get back out on the pitch. 

"It has been a whirlwind couple of years for sure and it is always a privilege to pull on the thistle.”