'Beating Canada can open up World Cup for Scots'

Lisa Cockburn and Lana Skeldon have 117 caps between them

Womens' Rugby World Cup Pool B: Canada v Scotland

Venue: Sandy Park, Exeter Date: Saturday, 6 September Kick-off: 12:00 BST

Coverage: Live on BBC Two, BBC Radio Sports Extra, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website and app

A victory over Canada will open up a path for Scotland to go deep into the Women's Rugby World Cup, according to head coach Bryan Easson.

The sides meet in Exeter on Saturday with both already assured of their place in the quarter-finals.

The winner of Pool B will likely avoid facing the hosts and tournament favourites England in the last eight, and while Scotland are big underdogs against the world number two Canadian side, Easson believes Saturday's showdown represents a "huge opportunity" for his players.

"I think there's a couple of routes to semi-finals and final and we're well aware of the route that we want to take," Easson said.

"When we look at this game, it's been a real opportunity for us just to put a mark on the World Cup.

"We made it very clear right at the start that we weren't just coming here to compete in terms of being a number, we were here to get to the latter stages.

"We are in the latter stages and we believe that our performances have shown the progress we're making and we want to keep progressing in this World Cup and this is a huge opportunity for us to do that."

Scotland have made two changes to their front row from the side who beat Fiji last weekend, with hooker Lana Skeldon and tighthead Lisa Cockburn starting.

Elis Martin drops to the bench while Elliann Clarke misses out. Cockburn replaced Clarke during last weekend's win against Fiji.

Lock Sarah Bonar will win her 50th cap, while Jade Konkel returns to the squad to take her place on a 6-2 bench.

Easson understands the scale of the challenge taking on a Canada side who have registered thumping wins over Fiji and Wales so far in the tournament.

However, he believes his side have been well prepared by their own victories over those two sides in Pool B.

"We've played against two sides of two different styles," said Easson, who will step down as Scotland head coach after the tournament.

"Playing Fiji last week was actually a really good one for us because they were very physical, it was a real physical test, which Canada are as well.

"Canada also play fairly similarly in terms of, believe it or not, offloading more than Fiji, so statistically offload more than them.

"So we've had a fair idea of what we're coming up against. We know the Canadians quite well, obviously a lot of the players play in PWR (Premiership Women's Rugby) and we've watched a lot of their games, so it's going to be a very, very difficult test, one however that we are very well prepared for."

Scotland team

Scotland: Chloe Rollie, Rhona Lloyd, Emma Orr, Lisa Thomson, Francesca McGhie; Helen Nelson, Leia Brebner-Holden; Leah Bartlett, Lana Skeldon, Lisa Cockburn, Emma Wassell, Sarah Bonar, Rachel Malcolm (capt), Rachel McLachlan, Evie Gallagher.

Replacements: Elis Martin, Anne Young, Molly Poolman, Jade Konkel, Eva Donaldson, Alex Stewart, Caity Mattinson, Evie Wills.