The Guinness Women’s Six Nations rivals are getting ready to head to South Africa for the WXV 2 competition in South Africa in late September and early October, and are using this match at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh to put into practice things they have worked on during pre-season.
These sides have had some thrilling battles in recent years and are ranked sixth and eighth in the world respectively. They also played out a cracker back in March at Cardiff Arms Park when the Scots edged it 20-18 in round one of the Six Nations.
Rollie has played Wales enough times over the years to know what is coming and she said: “Wales are physical, they are strong, they are pragmatic and think on their feet and we have been saying [in camp] that they maybe focus less on their set piece now and play a bit more.
“That means that on Friday evening we will have to be at the top end of our game, always switched on and always alert to everything.
“They are a big team and they have some weight in that pack and they will run at you if you give them a chance so we just need to shut that down before it happens.
“We are looking forward to the challenge and they are always good games versus Wales.”
Meanwhile, Rollie has pressed the reset button after an up and down 2023/24 for her personally and now she is ready to thrive going forward into this season.
Borderer Rollie, now 29, has been in and around the Scotland set up since 2015 and has amassed 65 caps and 20 tries in a stellar career at the top level to date.
However, she headed into the Guinness Women's Six Nations earlier this year off the back of an injury and was on the bench for the first two games against Wales and France.
She then started against England and Italy before being red carded in the latter which meant missing the Ireland game.
Ankle surgery and a move of club to Ealing Trailfinders came in the summer and now Rollie is ready to hit the ground running and show everyone what she is about in game one of the Vodafone Series at Hive Stadium in a couple of days.
“My whole season last season I describe as a rollercoaster,” she said.
“There were moments that were really good and then there were moments that were pretty bad, whether that was injury or selection or getting the red card in the Six Nations.
“The summer was like a reset for me, I got ankle surgery and that was the moment where I was like ‘cool, now I’ll reset and refocus and look to get better as a player and put that all behind me’.
“This is a new season as a player and if you don’t reset or look for that fresh start then you will just build up baggage and it will drag you down.
“I know what I am capable of and what I can bring to the team so I just have to focus on that with a clear mind.
“We have had a great pre-season block and now as a Scotland squad we can’t wait to get going as the build-up to next year’s World Cup begins.”
With the consistency that Scotland have had of late - eight wins in 11 Tests - comes clarity. and clarity in attack is something the squad worked hard on during the recent four-week pre-season block.
“It has been really good, we really have focused on attack and how we want to play and it is almost like a case of more freedom, but also being better at knowing when to pull the trigger or not to pull the trigger,” Rollie, who is now in the top 10 list of all-time capped Scottish female players, stated.
“There are times in the game where opportunities are there to be taken and other times where they maybe aren’t there and you have to recycle or reset and as a squad we are getting more clarity on that.
“We are understanding better as a team and as individuals how to approach those moments in a game, like is this an opportunity to kick or is this an opportunity to play or what do we need to do at that moment so I think in attack it is definitely getting better and we have more clarity around it.”
Scotland v Wales kicks off this Friday 6th September, 19:35, at Hive Stadium, Edinburgh. Tickets are available here.
