Scotland 'miss lift and have to take the stairs'

Scotland's journey in the Women's Rugby World Cup has taken them down the path most expected but one they had hoped to avoid, with the might of England awaiting them in the quarter-finals.

Bryan Easson hoped his side might be able to spring a shock on Canada and sidestep a potential showdown with the tournament favourites next Sunday live on the BBC (16:00 BST).

As it turned out, the Canadians just had too much for the Scots in Exeter on Saturday and made it three wins from three to top Pool B and set up a quarter-final against Australia.

"We've gone toe-to-toe with the second-best team in the world and it's just a little bit of a harder journey now," Easson told BBC Scotland.

"We said we're either going to take the lift or the stairs - we're going to have to take the stairs now."

Scots bettered but not battered

Scotland were bettered but not battered, and caused the number two side in the world real problems at times.

They fashioned three excellent tries from Rhona Lloyd, Evie Gallagher and the prolific Francesca McGhie.

The problem was that Canada were ruthless in punishing mistakes and whenever the Scots looked to be back in the game, they were soon knocked right back out of it as the Canadians scored at good times to squash any hint of a comeback.

Pride and frustration were the mixed emotions in the Scotland camp after the game.

Pride at going to-to-toe with one the heavyweight's of Test rugby.

Frustration that had a few key moments gone for them, such as Helen Nelson's disallowed try on the hour that would have brought Scotland back within a score, the game may have panned out differently.

"I think there was a game there for us to take today," captain Rachel Malcolm told BBC Scotland.

"The little periods of time where we slipped away, those 10 minutes pre-half time and then also when that try got disallowed, that really was a turning point.

"If that try had been allowed, I'd like to think the momentum we could have built from that could have changed the game. We need to be better at dealing with those little shifts in momentum as well.

"In terms of the performance, I don't think anyone thought that we had that in us."

'Scotland love underdog story'

There will be zero expectation that Scotland's journey in this World Cup will continue beyond next weekend when they face the Red Roses in Bristol.

Scotland have not beaten England since 1999 and, with the RFU embracing professionalism in the women's game far quicker than their Scottish counterparts, the gap between the countries has become a chasm.

The last 10 meetings have produced an average score of 53-4 in England's favour.

This tournament is there to be won for the hosts and the way they dispatched Australia in the final pool game, without ever really hitting top gear, was ominous for any team standing in their way.

Next up are Scotland. They have already achieved their objective by reaching the quarter-finals and, while most will dismiss their hopes of getting near England, they have a free hit at trying to produce arguably the tournament's greatest ever upset.

"The pressure is definitely on them," fly-half Helen Nelson told BBC Scotland. "It's their home tournament and they're definitely in form.

"We love that underdog story. Home World Cup in England, playing England in the quarter-final, it doesn't get much bigger than that.

"They're a team that we know very well and they're very, very good. But I think we've been going from strength to strength so we'll just go all in again next week."