Parker relishes challenge as women head for World Cup

Scotland Women head off to the sixth Rugby World Cup in Surrey on Monday with a collective desire to prove that they can mix it with the best.

Since Gary Parker and his assistant Jared Tuoro took over at the tail end of 2009 the squad has improved greatly, despite only one win being recorded in the Six Nations.

Last month the Scots defeated Ireland in a training match at Hawthornden and Parker believes that shows just how far they have come in a short space of time.

"I have been really impressed with the way the girls have responded to myself and Jared over the last few months because we really had to hit the ground runnin," he said. "Last December the team lost heavily to Ireland in a training match in Belfast, we then pushed them hard before losing in the Six Nations before beating them a few weeks ago. I think this shows that progress is being made and bodes well for the next couple of weeks at the World Cup."

The squad selected has a good balance of youth and experience, from 21-year-olds Celia Hathorn and Nicola Halfpenny who have seven and three caps respectively right through to Donna Kennedy who has 110.

Another experienced player - Hillhead/Jordanhill prop Heather Lockhart - is set to win her 42nd cap in the opener against Canada a week today and she is looking forward to her second World Cup. "We have been training well together for the last few weeks and we are now just eager to get started.

"I think the two Tests against South Africa over the summer were real eye-openers for us in terms of physicality, but the fact that we were leading 17-7 in the second test at one point proves that we are improving and learning from previous matches," said Lockhart.

"It is a challenge to play a number of high-quality games in a short space of time and we will have to make sure we are mentally ready for each match. We are looking forward to testing ourselves," the 38-year-old said. In the last World Cup in Canada four years ago Scotland finished in sixth place and they know they will have to perform well to compete in a pool that includes Canada, France and Sweden.

The squad, captained by back-row Lynne Reid, will train once more at Murrayfield on Sunday before they head south to prepare for the Canada match.