Rachel Malcolm has backed teenager Alex Stewart to reach impressive heights after her performances during the Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
Having caught the eye for Edinburgh during the Celtic Challenge, Stewart started all five of Scotland’s matches in the championship.
She also finished the championship joint-top of the tackle charts alongside Wales’ Alex Callender.
Malcolm was seriously impressed by what she's seen and reckons she has all the potential in the world to be world class.
“What Alex has achieved is nothing short of phenomenal,” the Scotland captain said.
“She’s definitely been a player who has dominated the Scottish league for a while now and her name has been bounced around but it wasn’t until this season that I saw her.
“The technique she has in terms of her tackle, in particular, for someone of her size, is truly incredible. She has all the ingredients to be a world-class seven.
“To come in and thrive in a high-level, high-pressure environment is not an easy feat, and it shows a lot about her personality and her character.
“I remember after the France game, we sat next to each in the changing room, and she said ‘we should’ve done this’ and it was bang on.
“To go to your captain as someone on your third cap and tell them ‘this is where we went wrong’ shows a huge amount of maturity, but also how knowledgeable she is about the game.”
Malcolm is predicting a big future for the teenager, who plays her club rugby with Corstorphine Cougars.
“It’s scary how good she is with so little experience. It’s mad to think where she’ll get to.
“She should be so proud because she did herself proud, her family proud and her country proud. She was phenomenal.”
Read the rules here