From dancing to dodging tackles - McGhie's journey to World Cup
Transferable skills often go a long way in sport and Francesca McGhie certainly sees the benefit of them.Seven years ago, her main pursuit was as a dancer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, but it was a path which didn't enthuse her.Then her mum saw a social media advert for a girls rugby team in Prestonpans, and the rest is history.The 21-year-old Scotland winger is now using her fleetness of foot to dodge incoming tackles and bolt to the line."I was excited to try something new, and just fell in love with it," said McGhie. "Fourteen-year-old me would be very proud."McGhie was first called up to represent the senior Scotland squad in 2023 and made her debut against England, where she now plies her trade with Leicester Tigers in the country where she will take part in her maiden Rugby World Cup.That's still eight weeks away, but if the recent training camp is anything to go by, those couple of months will pass in a flash."I think it's going to fly in," said McGhie."These last three weeks have gone super fast. We've enjoyed every second of it and all of us are just super excited to get stuck into this World Cup."Awaiting in Scotland's pool are Canada, Wales and Fiji - ranked second, 10th and 16th in the world respectively, compared to Scotland's seventh."We have a very competitive pool," said McGhie, who has amassed 24 caps already."Each team brings something different and we'll have to adapt to that. "It'll be exciting to play Canada, I've never played them before. Wales is a competitor we play every year and they're always an exciting for us, and Fiji are totally different from both of them."The target for Scotland will be to finish in top two of that pool to earn a quarter-final spot.And despite the showpiece tournament not being in a more far-flung location, McGhie is convinced it'll be a tremendous sporting and life experience."It would be great to travel elsewhere but when you're in it you'll feel like you're floating around somewhere in the rugby bubble," she said.
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