Scots not treated 'respectfully' in contract row

Scotland ran in six tries against Wales with Francesca McGhie scoring a hat-trick

Scotland have not treated their Women's Rugby World Cup players "respectfully" over their ongoing contract issues, says former England captain Katy Daley-McLean.

The build-up to the tournament has seen a dispute between the playing squad and Scottish Rugby played out publicly while it was announced that coach Bryan Easson will be leaving his role at the end of the tournament.

But despite the off-field issues, they put in a strong performance on Saturday in Salford to beat Wales 38-8 in their World Cup opener to put them in with a chance of reaching the knockout stages.

"Players are more powerful now and the power Scotland have is that they have everyone's interest," Daley-McLean told the BBC Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

"People say the women's game needs to be treated respectfully and at the moment I would argue that Scottish Rugby haven't done that.

"That's not the best way to prepare your women, but what Scotland did on Saturday was in spite of that, it's not because of it, and they played very well."

When news of the contract issues emerged in June, Scotland Rugby chief executive Alex Williamson said the situation would be resolved before the tournament.

However, Scotland wing Rhona Lloyd told the media at the World Cup squad announcement that the agreement reached has resulted in "more than half" of the 32-player squad being left without contracts after the tournament.

Captain Rachel Malcolm described the situation as "very disruptive" with BBC rugby union reporter Sara Orchard describing it as "something that will follow them around" and an unwanted distraction.

Daley-McLean, who led England to victory at the 2014 tournament, is firmly behind the Scotland players, who face Fiji in their second pool game on Saturday.

"No players should be put in that position by their union," she went on. "You want Scotland to thrive and you want people like Rachel Malcolm to go on and have an awesome World Cup.

"The issue is should these conversations be had six weeks out from a World Cup and putting their girls in a position where they are the ones who have to deal with it.

"He [Alex Williamson] is not coming out and being interviewed, it is Rachel Malcolm who is having to come out and asked to defend the decision."