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'World class' Wassell's World Cup place not guaranteed

'World class' Wassell's World Cup place not guaranteed

BBC Newsa day ago
Scotland head coach Bryan Easson is delighted to be able to recall "world class" Emma Wassell - but he says her World Cup place is not guaranteed.Easson says Wassell's selection for his final squad for next month's tournament will be based on performance rather than sentimentality.Wassell, who is in the Scotland team to face Italy this weekend, will represent her country for the first time since missing the entire 2024-25 season after undergoing surgery to remove a tumour from her chest.Easson says while the return of Wassell, capped 67 times by Scotland, is a huge boost to the squad, she will receive no special treatment."Wass knows that herself because she's been out for a while," Easson said. "But if she gets anywhere near the levels she's been at before, she's a world-class set-piece operator."She's physical, she gives us go forward in attack, but she's also really physical defensively."But as we know, she's been out a while, so it's back to evidence. We need evidence to see what she's like in a more pressurised environment. In pre-season she's thrown herself about, she's ready to go."She's really impressed everybody, but we make it very clear to everyone that selection is performance-based."I believe it's one of the reasons why the team has grown. It's not about being in here and expecting a jersey, it's about fighting for that jersey."So Wass is the same, and everybody that puts a jersey on knows they want to put in a performance that is worthy of selection for the next game."
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