They may have been suffered a hammering last weekend, but at the age of 40, prop Heather Lockhart loves being involved with the Scotland women's team just as much as ever.
Hillhead/Jordanhill's Lockhart will be winning her 60th cap when she runs out wearing the No 1 jersey at Dundee HSFP's Mayfield ground against Italy, determined to help her side win their first championship match since 2010. Last week, the side competed with England for the first 20 minutes, holding the score at 0-0 and playing a structured game, before they were blown away by their ruthless hosts, losing 76-0.
"It was really disappointing to lose by so much against England, but the pleasing thing has been that everyone has had open discussions about what went wrong and we are ready to address them against Italy," Lockhart said. "With three home matches now in a row, we have to try to get some positive results on the board, but we cannot afford to look ahead to Ireland and Wales and must focus on the Italians who will be on a high after defeating France last time out."
Last week, Bridget Millar-Mills made her debut in the second-row while Leanne Neary, Becca Parker and teenagers Sarah Law and Jade Konkel all debuted off the bench. Lockhart, who has seen a lot of players come and go in nearly a decade in the national set-up, is impressed by this latest group.
"All the new players did well and in training they have all been working really hard. It is always good to get new blood involved. The good thing for them now is that they have that first cap out the way and they are all itching for a crack at Italy."
Gary Heatly
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