Findlay unfazed by tough opener

Scotland coach Karen Findlay will lead her side into a baptism of fire in this years 6 Nations with a home clash against reigning champions England this weekend.

The Scottish coach though says her side are in a stronger place now than 12 months ago and is confident of a much improved effort.

Scotland had a tough 2011 in the 6 Nations finishing bottom of the table after some chastening losses, but there has been much more positivity about the squad in recent months after a comfortable win over Holland in the winter and another victory over the Army in January.

While Findlays young side arent likely to pull off an upset this weekend against England, she is welcoming the chance to play the tournaments top side.

I am quite pleased its the opening game. Youve got to play each other at some point so it may as well be first up and of course the fact its at home and it will be a great way to open the tournament.

While loathe to set her side targets in terms of wins and losses, the Scottish boss says that following a year of hard work, she will be looking for major improvements.

For us this year is about trying to build on a lot of new things that we have introduced from a coaching perspective over the last year. As a coaching team we came on board at the start of last year but there wasnt a long lead-in to the 6 Nations which was tough, but since then the squad and the staff have been working really hard on core skill development and fitness so we will want to see some of that come to fruition in the upcoming games. I thought we saw a bit of it when we played in Holland in November, a performance I was very pleased with.

Scotlands difficulties though mirror that of their Celtic cousins, with a small playing pool and a lack of regular games outside of the 6 Nations test window. Findlay has ensured that the latter has been improved in the past year with two additional games to the sides calendar, something she says is a major help.

What is key I think is providing our players with a chance to play at a different level and giving them a chance to really be tested in that environment. It is hard to ask players to go out there and ask them to step up to international level without providing them with that kind of opportunity. This 6 Nations we have had a decent lead in with the two games and weve had some very good training camps. The preparation has been better this year and even though we know things will take time to turn around we feel better mentally too.

We have a very small player base so its really important that we focus on making what we have better whether thats getting the players more games or simply getting more girls into the game in Scotland. It is tough when there is pressure on you to get results as well but we need a longer term approach to that.

This years 6 Nations has an added caveat of being part of the qualification path for the 2014 World Cup. In 2012 and 2013 the two highest placed teams on aggregate over two years will secure places at the World Cup (England and France are already through) while the remaining two will go into a playoff. Findlay though says she wont be focusing too much yet on that issue.

Im not going to worry myself about the qualification rules just yet. If we get things right off the pitch and that starts to have an impact on it then it will take care of itself. Whatever the requirement is to get to the World Cup we will have to meet it and the challenge for us is whether we can do that within the timeframe and get there.

Scotland take on England at Lasswade on Sunday 5 February (kick-off 5pm, free entry).