As Scotland return home from the WXV 2 tournament disappointed to have finished runners-up, second-row Louise McMillan has opened up on “one of the hardest things” in her rugby career that occurred just before the trip to South Africa.
Since she made her debut in late 2016, McMillan, now 27, has hardly ever been out of the matchday 23, but on August 27 she was left out of the 30-strong squadfor the title defence.
The Saracens player had been part of the wider group during the four-week pre-season training block, but head coach Bryan Easson selected Emma Wassell, Sarah Bonar, Fi McIntosh and Eva Donaldson as his second row options for the warm-up Tests with Wales and Fiji and WXV 2.
As it turned out, McMillan was soon back in the squad with Wassell missing out due to a tumour on her chest.
McMillan was used off the bench at half-time in Saturday’s loss to WXV 2 winners Australia, but she admits it has been a strange time.
The 58-times capped lock said: “Personally, getting dropped was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to deal with in my career.
"It was really hard and I did have conversations [with coaches at the time who explained the reasons around the decision], but I think it’s hard to explain to someone that is feeling very emotional.
“I’m definitely thinking back to five, six weeks ago when I thought I’d maybe never get a chance to play in a Scotland shirt again, those are the thoughts you have when you’re dropped.
“I think I’ve had some good conversations with coaches while we have been in South Africa and I’ve hopefully proved some points that I wanted to prove - and I’m proud of it.
"Obviously, it’s through somebody else’s misfortune that I’m here, but I just take every opportunity I have.
“I’m surrounded by so many great people that really helped make that easier.
“For so long we just had a set Scotland team and it was so hard to break into it [for other players], but I feel like the place where we are now with so much depth sets us up really well for the World Cup.”
The Rugby World Cup McMillan mentions takes place next August and September in England and the one plus point to come over the weekend was that Scotland rubberstamped their place at that 16-team event.
They were, however, frustrated to lose the WXV 2 title decider to Australia 31-22 at Athlone Sports Stadium.
“Obviously right now we’re gutted, we came here to win the tournament and we haven’t achieved that,” winger Coreen Grant, McMillan’s Saracens team-mate who started the match for cap number 15, said.
“It was a tough start for us, Australia came out very hard, they got the ball into space really well and I think that put us on the back foot.
“We did really well to come back into it from being quite far behind and the second half showed a lot more of the heart that we wanted to put into that performance and the fight to do the jersey proud.
“It felt like there was a lot of momentum shifts in the game. Credit to Australia, they did really well, we thought we had them pinned in and they’d get back out and it would go back and forth. They’re a really strong opponent.
“Ultimately it wasn’t enough and we’ll be able to review this one and learn from it.
“Hopefully, in the long run, it will be better for us coming up against these kind of teams. That’s what WXV is great for, getting to play against other teams at a good level. Going forward we can learn to control the momentum shifts in our favour and make the most of them in games.”
Despite the blow at the weekend when they finished with 13 players, Scotland have still won 12 from 16 Tests and have plenty to look forward to in 2025 with a three-home game Six Nations and then the World Cup down south.
“We’re building really well,” Grant, 26, added.
"We’ve now qualified for the World Cup. That’s really exciting and that’s something to be proud of and build towards now.”
The Scotland squad arrive home early on Monday morning and the World Cup pool draw takes place on Thursday.
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