by Scotland have been drawn alongside Canada, Wales and Fiji for next summer’s Rugby World Cup in England.
Bryan Easson’s side, seeded seventh in the world rankings in the second pot, are aiming to reach the knockout rounds after being eliminated from the groups in 2022.
The Scots will be encouraged by the draw after comfortably defeating Wales and Fiji last month.
Scotland recorded consecutive wins against Wales for the first time since 2005 with a 40-14 win at the Hive and scored nine tries to defeat the Fijians 59-10 in their first ever meeting.
However, two years ago Wales beat the Scots 18-15 in the group stage.
“We’re pretty used to playing against them [Wales] and it’s always super close. That’s why I’m excited,” Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm told the BBC.
Canada, the top seed in the pool and ranked second in the world, emerged with a 28-25 win from Scotstoun in their last meeting with Scotland in 2018.
Should Scotland be eliminated from the group in second place, a meeting with tournament favorites and hosts England would be likely.
Scotland finished second in the second-tier WXV2 competition after narrowly losing the decider to Australia last week, while Canada beat France and Ireland but lost to England in the aforementioned division.
The draw was conducted on BBC’s The One Show by England’s 2014 World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi.
The tournament begins on Friday August 22nd with England at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland and culminates in the final at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham on September 27th.
Scotland return to action in the spring for the Women’s Six Nations, hosting Wales, Italy and Ireland at the Hive Stadium and traveling to England and France.
