Borderers Chloe Rollie, Lisa Thomson and Lana Skeldon in Scottish women’s rugby squad to face Japan

Chloe Rollie playing for Scotland against Ireland in Parma in Italy in September (Photo: Alessandro Sabattini/World Rugby via Getty Images)

Jedburgh’s Rollie, 26, and Hawick’s Thomson, 24, and Skeldon, 28, are among a 26-strong squad named by head coach Bryan Easson for that game at Edinburgh’s new DAM Health Stadium on Sunday, November 14.

Kicking off at 4.10pm, it will be broadcast live on BBC Alba.

Exeter Chief Rollie is on 43 caps at the moment, Sale Shark Thomson on 38 and Worcester Warrior Skeldon on 46.

Edinburgh University students Shona Campbell, Meryl Smith, Anne Young and Holly McIntyre are all in with a chance of making their Scotland debuts and Worcester Warriors second-row Lyndsay O’Donnell returns to the fold, having last played for Scotland during 2017’s Six Nations championship.

Easson said: “The upcoming autumn test against Japan is a great opportunity for us to learn from our experience in the Rugby World Cup 2021 Europe qualifiers.

“Japan have recently qualified for the Rugby World Cup as the highest-ranked team in the Asia qualification process, so this will be an ideal test for us as it exposes us to a different opponent and playing style ahead of our final qualification tournament next year.

“The players are also excited to run out in front of a home crowd for the first time since 2019, especially as they’ve played mostly behind closed doors for the past 18 months.

“We’ve all hugely missed having crowds so it’ll be fantastic to have supporters along at the DAM Health Stadium to cheer the players on.”

Scotland’s last game against the Brave Blossoms was a 24-20 defeat in November 2019, and that was also the last match they played in front of a home crowd.

Easson’s squad, having kept their world cup ambitions alive following back-to-back wins against Spain and Ireland during recent qualifiers in Italy, are now at an all-time high of ninth in the women’s world rugby rankings.

Tickets cost £12 for adults and £5 for under-18s.

The rest of the squad comprises Leah Bartlett, Christine Belisle, Sarah Bonar, Lisa Cockburn, Evie Gallagher, Jade Konkel, Rachel Malcolm, Rachel McLachlan, Louise McMillan, Emma Wassell, Molly Wright, Megan Gaffney, Sarah Law, Rhona Lloyd, Jenny Maxwell, Helen Nelson, Hannah Smith and Evie Wills.