Physiotherapist Rachel McLachlan could play again for Scotland in this weekend's Rugby World Cup

Physiotherapist Rachel McLachlan will be hoping she makes the cut for Scotland’s final Pool A game against New Zealand in the 2021 Rugby World Cup tournament.

The match is being played at the Northland Events Centre in the North Island city of Whangarei on Saturday (22 October). Her supporters in the UK will have an early start, however, as the match kicks off at 4.45 am (GMT) and will be shown live on television channels including STV Player and ITV.

Having lost to Wales and Australia in their earlier pool matches, Scotland must beat their hosts to have a slim chance of reaching the quarter-finals and will only do so if the results in other pools matches go favourably for them as well.

Rachel, 23, completed her four-year physiotherapy degree at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) in 2021. She first took up rugby as a physio student at GCU after having previously poured her athletic abilities into judo as a girl, a sport at which she also excelled. Within nine months of switching sports, Rachel began playing for her country and currently plays club rugby for Sales Sharks, who are based in Greater Manchester.

World Cup squad

The openside flanker flew to New Zealand on 8 October as part of Scotland's 32-member squad. With 31 international caps to her name, Rachel returned to first team action in the Australia game on 15 October – a game which Scotland narrowly lost after leading for a long spell – having been side-lined for a period with an injury.

You look at your own game. You look at the team’s game and you work out where you want to go from there, and how you can improve [Rachel McLachlan]

Coach praises Rachel's 'physicality'

Speaking on the eve of that game, Scotland Women head coach Bryan Easson said: ‘It’s great to have Rachel McLachlan and Emma Orr available for selection again. Australia have an abrasive back-row and we know that Rachel brings physicality to her game, while Emma really impressed us throughout the Women’s Six Nations after making her debut earlier this year.'

Spurred on by failures

Rachel talks about her love affair with rugby, the support she’s had from her family and what motivates her in a video available on Scottish Rugby’s YouTube channel. ‘I think off the back of defeats as well that’s one of the biggest drivers for me to improve,’ she explains.

‘You look at your own game. You look at the team’s game and you work out where you want to go from there, and how you can improve. That has been one of the biggest drivers of my career: the successes but the failures and how you come back from that.’

To watch the video, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb9sxErshvE

To read a PhysioUpdate article that was published while Rachel was still studying at GCU, visit: https://www.physioupdate.co.uk/on-the-move/meet-a-leader-of-the-pack-rachel-mclachlan-physiotherapy-student-and-rugby-international/