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Daily Mail
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
He achieved almost everything he set out to do. He climbed his Everest. But now is the right time for Josh Taylor to step away from the ring, his legacy intact, writes Graeme Macpherson
It was typical of Josh Taylor 's stubborn and determined nature that only after a doctor's warning that he could potentially lose his sight did he reluctantly agree to finally hang up his gloves. Every boxer believes they have at least one more bout in them - even Muhammad Ali hung on for a few more years than he really should have - but there is little doubt that this is the correct moment for Taylor to call it a day rather than dragging it out in the forlorn hope of recapturing some of his former glories. The last few years have undoubtedly been a struggle for the Prestonpans southpaw as his advancing years, poor decision-making and a lack of motivation have all contributed to a gradual but unedifying fall down the rankings. As Taylor himself noted in his valedictory message, the medics have 'saved me from myself' by bringing down the curtain on his career almost a decade to the day from when he first entered the professional ranks. Retirement will hit hard like it does with most athletes but the 34-year-old can have no regrets having managed what precious few sportsmen and women do by achieving almost everything he set out to. In becoming the first and so far only British male to become undisputed world champion in the four-belt era, Taylor scaled the heights of his own personal Mount Everest. When he defeated Jose Carlos Ramirez in Las Vegas in May 2021 - knocking down the undefeated American twice on his way to a unanimous points decision - Taylor joined his hero, Ken Buchanan, in becoming an undisputed champion. Taylor has always deferred to Buchanan whenever asked about the greatest Scottish boxer of all time but the pair, and three-weight world champion Ricky Burns, all deserve to be in that conversation. Taylor's achievement in sweeping the board also made him at that time just the third ever male undisputed champion of the modern era, following in the lofty footsteps of Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk, hallowed company indeed. If there were regrets on the Scot's part, they centred on the fact that more people didn't witness the greatest moment of his boxing life. The Ramirez fight took place in the midst of Covid restrictions - Taylor is and was a fierce critic of the pandemic and a vaccine sceptic - meaning only a handful of spectators were inside the arena to watch it in the flesh. Perhaps more galling was the fact that no mainstream British broadcaster chose to pick up the fight, the rights going instead to pay-per-view providers, Fite TV. Taylor, like many Scots sportsmen and women, has often found it difficult to win over an English audience that never quite knew how to take this gallus and often spiky individual. It was perhaps Taylor's misfortune not to have worked under a promotional giant like Eddie Hearn or Frank Warren until right at the very end of his career, someone who would have given his talent the publicity it undoubtedly deserved. It will be instructive to see if this articulate and often charismatic figure now picks up regular television work as a ringside commentator or pundit as would seem the natural next path following his decision to hang up the gloves. Taylor's ability as a boxer, however, was never in question. Tall for the 140lbs division, tough as teak, durable and able to box or brawl as required, the self-styled Tartan Tornado showed early glimpses of his pedigree in an amateur career guided by legendary trainer Terry McCormack that saw his appearance at the London 2012 Olympics book-ended by Commonwealth Games silver and gold medals won in Delhi and Glasgow respectively. Turning professional in 2015 under the guidance of Barry and Shane McGuigan, Taylor benefited from being a team-mate of Carl Frampton's just as the Northern Irishman was competing for world honours. Taylor would often fight on the undercard of major contests before becoming a champion in his own right when he claimed the Commonwealth belt in Meadowbank in just his seventh fight. It was the creation of the World Boxing Super Series that fast-tracked his journey to world level, setting up a best vs best knockout format among the leading contenders in each division, eliminating the usual messing about that often accompanies attempts to put together a major fight. Taylor already held the WBC silver strap when he defeated American Ryan Martin in the quarter-final to set up a last-four bout with Ivan Baranchyk at the Hydro in May 2019. More importantly, the Belarusian also held the IBF title and Taylor eased it from his grasp, flooring Baranchyk twice on his way to a points win to become a world champion in just his 15th fight. The final would take place in London later that year against the highly-fancied American, Regis Prograis, but again Taylor would prove too strong as he added the WBA belt to his growing collection of silverware, before conquering the rest of the division by beating Ramirez two years later. The collective record at the time of his six opponents from Viktor Postol to Ramirez was a staggering 136-1. Nobody could say he had done it the easy way, especially with the Prograis and Ramirez fights taking place away from his home comforts. Becoming undisputed champion should have given Taylor the platform to rule at super-lightweight for years to come or prompt a move up to welterweight where he could have asserted himself at the bigger weight category, having started to struggle to boil down to 140lbs in later contests. Instead, complacency and inactivity led to his downfall. He was fortunate to hold onto all his belts in his homecoming bout with Jack Catterall early in 2022 - gaining a very fortunate nod from the judges - but again didn't heed the warnings. Now on the wrong side of 30, the hunger seemed to have gone out of him, something he acknowledged when he compared fighting Catterall to strolling up Arthur's Seat after scaling Everest by beating Ramirez. Teofimo Lopez took his last remaining world title from him in a one-sided fight in New York in 2023 before Catterall got his revenge - if little glory - in the pair's 2024 rematch. Taylor was now very much on the slide, although he was still full of spark and optimism when he belatedly stepped up to welterweight earlier this year for a match-up with Ekow Essuman. Now training in Liverpool with Joe McNally, Taylor's dream was to go on to become a two-weight world champion but that ambition never got out of the starter's gate, Taylor laboured and ponderous as he fell to the third defeat of his career against a middling opponent who would have been swept aside contemptuously in his prime. The struggles of the last few years, however, shouldn't tarnish the legacy of one of Britain's greatest ever fighters. He never did get to live out his dream of fighting at the home of his beloved Hibs or on the promenade at Edinburgh Castle but the boy from Prestonpans undoubtedly shook up the world on his way to the very top.
The Herald Scotland
21-07-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Josh Taylor should be remembered as one of Britain's greatest boxers
The tone of Taylor's valedictory statement made clear he was doing so reluctantly rather than through his own free will, that stubborn streak that has served him so well throughout a storied career barely yielding, even to the last. This, though, was the correct outcome if not for the reasons Taylor would have wanted. At 34 years old and with a hoped-for second wind at welterweight having faltered at the first hurdle, there was nothing left for the self-styled Tartan Tornado to prove, little value in continuing to plough on gamely and risk further damage to a reputation that has suffered more than a few dents in recent years. Even the greatest warriors need to be told sometimes that it is best to stop rather than plodding on in the forlorn hope that they can defy the ageing process and once more scale previous heights. Taylor's legacy was never in any danger of being tarnished by his determination to keep searching for the next fight but the finality of retirement ensures it is now encased forever, his achievements untouchable, a body of work that deserves to see the Scot recognised as one of the greatest fighters to ever hail from these shores. And what a career it has been. A relatively late convert to the sweet science after a childhood spent in martial arts, his boxing potential was hinted at by the Commonwealth Games silver and then gold medals acquired as an amateur. In between those two milestones, Taylor also pulled on a Team GB vest to box at the London 2012 Olympic Games, still the last Scottish boxer to perform on that stage. That the southpaw from Prestonpans was going to turn over was never in doubt after learning his trade under the careful eye of Terry McCormack at Lochend Boxing Club. It was just the where and when that needed to be settled. The answer was July 2015 under the stewardship of Barry McGuigan and his son, Shane, meaning Taylor heads into retirement after exactly a decade spent in the professional ranks. Riding the tailcoats of Cyclone team-mate Carl Frampton, Taylor's route to the top began in unconventional fashion. While most new pros start out on small hall shows being walked through their debuts by gnarled journeymen, Taylor's first start came in El Paso, Texas just hours before Frampton would go on to win a world title. It meant that from the earliest days, Taylor was immersed in what it takes to reach the very top. Powerful with both fists and tall for the weight class with a lengthy reach, he was soon showcasing that he had what it took to reach that level, too. Taylor claimed the Commonwealth title aged just 25 with a stoppage of Dave Ryan at Meadowbank in just his seventh professional fight and retained the belt against Warren Joubert, at the same venue two bouts later. Having someone as famous and loquacious as McGuigan Sr. in his corner did not harm his cause, either, the Northern Irishman quick to speak about an all-Scots tear-up with then world champion, Ricky Burns, one contest that sadly never materialised. Still, there were other appealing fights to occupy Taylor, most notably an all-British bout with Ohara Davies, the mouthy Englishman who vowed to stop the Tartan Tornado in his tracks. Instead, it was Davies who would be left humiliated after infamously turning his back in the seventh round, unwilling and unable to continue. It was another sign that Taylor was the real deal as he pushed ever closer to world honours. He would be given a massive helping hand on that front by the creation of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS), a tournament that pitted the best of the best from each weight division in knockout – no pun intended – format. It created a clear path for each of the eight participants, with none of the usual prevaricating that often gets in the way of potential big fights becoming a reality. Taylor would take up residency at the Hydro in Glasgow, the venue where he had won Commonwealth Games gold in 2014. Victories over Miguel Vazquez – that one at Ingliston for the WBC silver belt – Winston Campos and Viktor Postol saw the Scot enter the tournament bursting with confidence and determined to fulfil his destiny. The previously unbeaten Ryan Martin was stopped in the quarter-final setting up a meeting with Ivan Baranchyk in May 2019, with the Belarussian's IBF strap on the line. Taylor had caused a brief flutter of anxiety when he weighed in over the limit but the desperate need to quickly boil down to shift those two pounds clearly had no effect on his capabilities as he floored Baranchyk twice on his way to a unanimous points victory. In just his 15th fight, Taylor was a fully-fledged world champion. He wasn't done, there, however. The WBSS final took him next to the O2 in London to fight Regis Prograis, another undefeated American, a clash where the WBA, IBF and Ring titles would all be on the line. It was another close content but Taylor deservedly shaded it to take a majority decision to become unified super-lightweight champion, immediately calling for a fight with the WBC and WBO title holder, Jose Carlos Ramirez. The Prograis victory would prove to be the Scot's final fight with the McGuigans – an acrimonious split took place early in 2020 – with Taylor teaming up with trainer Ben Davison for a first-round stoppage of Apinun Khongsong later that year. By this point the Covid pandemic had descended – Taylor was an outspoken critic of many of the lockdown restrictions as well as a vaccine sceptic – making it tricky to finalise the undisputed bout with Ramirez. Eventually it was set for May 2021 in Las Vegas, with barely a smattering of spectators there to see it. Those fortunate to be present or watching at home on Fite TV – none of the major broadcasters elected to show it – saw history unfold as Taylor followed in the footsteps of his hero, Ken Buchanan, by becoming a Scottish undisputed world champion. Ramirez started on top but Taylor would move into the ascendancy in the middle of the contest, knocking down his opponent in the sixth and seventh rounds on his way to a unanimous decision. In doing so he became just the third fighter in history – after Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk – to hold all four of the major world straps at the same time. What elevated the achievement was the standard of the opposition, rising in difficulty every time and with Taylor also becoming unified and then undisputed champion on the road. The collective record of his opponents from Postol to Ramirez – at the time of fighting each one – was a staggering 136-1. All succumbed to Taylor's power, precision and indefatigable dogged spirit. It would be a source of eternal regret for Taylor that more people were not present to witness his greatest achievement and that none of the major UK broadcasters felt it was worth showing. A feeling endured throughout his career that large swathes of England just couldn't quite take to this cheeky and at times spiky Scotsman, and that he wasn't promoted as well as he could have been by those looking after his interests. This was a talent that shouldn't have gone under the radar. In hindsight, beating Ramirez should have been the catalyst for a step up to welterweight to see whether he could go on to also dominate that division. Instead, what followed was a hugely unsatisfactory final few years in the ring. Taylor had once quipped that taking on Jack Catterall in February 2022 after beating Ramirez was like scaling Everest then returning to saunter up Arthur's Seat. His motivation having dipped, Taylor ought to have lost all his belts that night in Glasgow – a hometown decision undoubtedly went his way – but it would prove to be the start of the end as poor decisions and long periods of inactivity took their toll. Teofimo Lopez claimed his last remaining strap in New York in June 2023 before Catterall got his revenge a year later to settle an often spiteful and bitter relationship between the pair. A match-up with Ekow Essuman in May this year was meant to be start of a new chapter at welterweight but Taylor looked a shadow of himself on his way to a unanimous points defeat. It is a sad way for such a notable career to conclude but shouldn't take away from how bright Taylor's star shone when he was at his peak. His place in the pantheon of Scottish and British boxing greats is assured.
Daily Mirror
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Mind-blowing reason Daniel Dubois was late for heavyweight title fight vs Oleksandr Usyk
Daniel Dubois arrived late to Wembley Stadium on Saturday night for his world heavyweight title showdown with Oleksandr Usyk, a fight where the Ukrainian showed his class to win by knockout against the 27-year-old Brit Daniel Dubois was late arriving to Wembley for the biggest night of his career after his dad held a party at the family home in the afternoon before Saturday's showdown with Oleksandr Usyk. The Essex-based brawler was resting up ahead of the undisputed showdown at Wembley Stadium when invited guests of his father, Stan, were at the house. Dubois, 27, briefly left the home because he did not know the people in attendance. His father later drove him to Wembley after private cars which were accredited to enter the area around the national stadium were used to ferry guests to the venue. That further delayed Dubois' arrival as the car they travelled in was not accredited and he did not get into the venue until 80 minutes before the scheduled ring walk time. Usyk arrived an hour earlier. There were also chaotic scenes when entering the venue over getting some of those party guests into the venue with Dubois held up in the middle of it all. Dubois was stopped by Usyk in the fifth round of the fight as he surrendered the IBF belt while the Ukrainian became a three-time undisputed champion. Promoter Frank Warren has called for Dubois to have six months off and learn from the man he has suffered two career defeats from when it comes to mental resilience. The delay getting to the venue has not been used as an excuse by Dubois' team for the comprehensive defeat at the hands of Usyk. But it is another sign of the odd relationship he has with his father. Some critics - such as heavyweight Dave Allen - have said Stan should not have been in the corner shouting advice over lead trainer Don Charles. It was Charles who threw the towel in as referee Michael Griffin waved the fight off when Dubois did not beat the count. Meanwhile, Scotland star Josh Taylor has retired from boxing because of an eye injury. Taylor, 34, won the undisputed light-welterweight crown after a run of victories against Viktor Postol, Ivan Baranchyk, Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez saw him collect all four belts at 10st. He has been on a run of three straight defeats against Teofimo Lopez, Jack Catterall and Ekow Essuman, the latter of which a failed move up to welterweight. But it is a recurring eye injury which has put his eyesight at risk if he kept fighting which is why the Prestonpans puncher is hanging them up to end a career which saw him regarded as Scotland's best since Ken Buchanan. He said: 'End of an era. I have lived my dream for the last 10 years & conquered Mount Everest. Thank you to every single one of you for the support through what has been this mad rollercoaster of a journey.
The Herald Scotland
19-07-2025
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Was this the most chaotic Jacobite battle of them all?
But now historian Geoff Bailey has dug deep into a forgotten cache of letters and contemporary first-hand accounts to paint a fuller picture of the chaotic few hours in January 1746 when Falkirk became the stage a narrow Jacobite victory but which he regards as more of a 'no-score draw battle' in a three-part drama. The Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, led the 1745 Jacobite Rising The newly uncovered material has been included in an updated book which explores in meticulous detail the bloody and at times farcical clash between Jacobites loyal to Charles Edward Stuart and their foe, the British government troops led by Lieutenant General Henry Hawley. No mere skirmish, the clash of forces on the barren hill above the town was the largest confrontation between Jacobite supporters and Hanoverian Government troops - entertainment for thousands of 'fight fans' who had come to watch. Yet despite its scale and importance, there is little to show for it – just one small stone monument marks the area where, on a sleet-driven January day almost 280 years ago, thousands gathered to fight over Bonnie Prince Charlie's claim to the British throne. The Battle of Falkirk Muir monument (Image: © Copyright Euan Nelson and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence) Sandwiched between the last battle to be fought on English soil, in December 1745 Clifton Moor, near Preston, when Jacobite forces overwhelmed the Duke of Cumberland's troops, and the brutal bloodbath of Culloden, the Battle of Falkirk Muir played a key role in changing the course of Scottish history. For although considered to be a narrow victory for the Jacobites – even though they didn't realise it at the time - it also gave government troops the ideal opportunity to better understand their previously effective battle tactics. Having sussed out at Falkirk how to handle the so-called Highland Charge – the shock tactic of advancing, firing shots and then, in a maelstrom of shouts and cries, violently attacking with swords and dirks – the Government forces now had a vital advantage for their next confrontation, Culloden. The Jacobites, meanwhile, limped from the battlefield with little to show for their efforts other than 50 dead and 80 wounded. Their poor command and at times shambolic co-ordination of men had magnified fractures within their hierarchy. Soon there would squabbles, fall outs and Bonnie Prince Charlie would take to his sick bed. It set the scene, says Geoff, for the collapse that lay ahead. 'Prestonpans was a home victory, Culloden was an away victory for the Hanovarians,' he says. Henry Hawley led the Government forces at the Battle of Falkirk Muir (Image: Christian Friedrich Zincke, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) 'Victory and major defeats tend to be what interests people. And Falkirk was more of a no score draw, which is why it tends to be overlooked. 'But,' he adds, 'it was a turning point. 'Two days after the battle, the Jacobites lost around 2000 men to desertion. 'They hadn't followed victory with victory, and people became more and more disillusioned. The saying 'to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory' could easily have been written for Falkirk'. Having studied the battle in depth for the first edition of his book, published 30 years ago, he was staggered to uncover previously unnoticed letters and accounts of events before and after the fighting tucked amid other material at the National Library of Scotland. Packed with detail and written by people who were there at the time, they have now been added to his new and updated version of his book, 'Falkirk or Paradise! The Battle of Falkirk Muir'. Among them is a letter written by a student of medicine, vividly describing efforts to save the lives of the dying and wounded. It offered insight not only into the heat of battle, but the excitement the prospect of bloody battle ignited among the general population, which saw thousands of thrill seekers make their way to Falkirk just to watch. After defeat at Culloden Bonnie Prince Charlie went into hiding before escaping to France 'He had come from Edinburgh to watch his friends fighting and writes about using the town's old grammar school as a makeshift hospital, with the teachers' desks used for surgery,' says Geoff. 'What makes it really interesting, is that his letters were written within a week of the battle, whereas most accounts were written by exiles – most of the Jacobite supporters end up in Italy, France and Holland - long after.' Remarkably, the medic was just one of around 3000 spectators who had travelled from around central Scotland just to watch the bloodshed. Their descent on the town, along with 8000 military men on either side, would have had a profound impact on Falkirk's local population of around 2,500 people, who found themselves and their food supplies overwhelmed. 'The carnival atmosphere that was developing in Falkirk was not to everyone's liking,' Geoff adds. 'Food prices continued to rocket as demand from the huge numbers of outsiders rose. 'The optimism of the government army and the host of visitors was not shared by the inhabitants who had just endured almost two weeks of occupation.' Read more: For locals, the day of battle on 17 January 1746 not only brought the chance to wrestle their town back from thousands of battle 'tourists' and Jacobite followers, but also to cash in. The aftermath of the fighting ignited scenes of looting from the dead and wounded and, later, remarkable entrepreneurship as locals sought to recoup some of their losses from the bloody events on their doorsteps. 'The local community was devastated, the Jacobites had been living off them for nearly three weeks, the spectators also needed feeding: it was a dreadful time for the local people,' says Geoff. 'But, there was a tourist trade as a result after it, and they were paid for showing people around the battle site.' Lochaber No More – Prince Charlie leaving Scotland', an 1863 painting by the artist John Blake MacDonald (Image: Public Domain) Those who chose to visit within hours of the fighting ending were met by a odd sight: from a distance, the battlefield that appeared to be covered with grazing, if a little static, sheep. 'As they got closer, they realised it was actually bodies that had been stripped bare overnight by the local people. All their clothes were stolen and the bodies had turned white because this was January and it was extremely cold. 'Folk took clothes, canons, weapons. 'One person was hauled up by the local church; he had gone to the battle site the day after and prised the horseshoes off the dead horses to reuse the iron. 'The problem for the church was not that he was stealing the iron, but because he did it on the Sabbath.' The battle itself was relatively brief and evolved almost into a comedy of errors, not helped when the powerful Jacobite-supporting MacDonald clan managed to get lost on the battlefield and miss a chunk of fighting. 'They were fighting along the ridge of a hill, went the wrong way and couldn't see where the battle was, so stood around chatting to each other,' says Geoff. 'To be fair, it was the 4th of January, there was heavy sleet, it was dark and there were hills all over the place. 'They also accidentally charged men on their own side and slaughtered them, including some presbyterian ministers.' Read more by Sandra Dick: The Hanoverian army, meanwhile, had camped on soggy ground to the south-west of the town, and rose to fight only to find their gunpowder damp from the sleet and tents sagging and sodden. But, adds Geoff: 'Everything that went wrong for the Hanoverians at Falkirk would then go wrong for the Jacobites at Culloden.' The Jacobite army deployed Highlanders at the front line and Lowland infantry in support at the second, intent on using their Highland Charge tactics to slaughter their foe. Bonnie Prince Charlie depicted leading his troops to battle at Culloden (Image: Archive) It would see the Government dragoons charge into Jacobite musket fire and then, in the chaos of smoke from their guns and the fearsome cries and yells of the shirtless clans, be met by long daggers and claymores thrust into the bellies of the government horses and their riders. Hawley's troops suffered large losses – not helped when horses churned up the soft ground, leaving rear guns stuck and unable to respond to the Jacobite pressure. But, says Geoff, events at Falkirk gave their commanders better understanding of Jacobite battle methods, so by the time Culloden came around, they knew precisely how best to respond. Back at Falkirk, as the weather worsened, chaos shifted to the town where locals, already fed up at the impact of finding themselves in the centre of a monumental clash, now found their narrow lanes and wynds consumed by street-by-street, hand-to-hand fighting that raged for hours. Within the town walls came high drama: Lord John Drummond, third in command of the Jacobites, rode his horse up the narrow Cow Wynd only to have it blasted from under him. Then, he took a bullet in the arm, and had to be dragged to safety. Government troops captured at Battle of Falkirk Muir were held at Castle of Doune near Stirling Later, a Hanoverian pistol retrieved by one excited Highlander would accidentally go off in his hands, fatally wounding Young Glengarry, commander of the MacDonell clan and leading to yet another rift among the Jacobite forces. It would be 7.30pm before Bonnie Prince Charlie was able to enter the town. Elements of the Battle of Falkirk Muir were almost too outlandish, says Geoff. 'There are things that, if you saw in a film, you'd say 'no way did that happen. But it did.' Such as the tale of Blind Jack, a drummer with the misnamed Yorkshire Blues who was taken prisoner by the Jacobites. Despite his disability, he still managed to foil his captors, break free and make his escape. Geoff Bailey's new book revisits the 1746 Battle of Falkirk Muir (Image: Geoff Bailey) One Jacobite was captured after mistaking Hanoverian lines for his own. Irritated that they were not behaving more aggressively towards the enemy, he demanded to know 'why aren't you chasing the bastards?'. Geoff says the reply was succinct: 'We are the bastards.' 'Falkirk or Paradise! The Battle of Falkirk Muir, 17 January 1746' will be launched at Falkirk Library on July 21. Proceeds from the book will support The Battle of Falkirk Muir (1746) Trust, which aims to swap its virtual museum and battle library for a custom-built museum in Falkirk telling the full story of the forgotten battle and the Jacobite Risings.
BBC News
20-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
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 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 mum saw a social media advert for a girls rugby team in Prestonpans, and the rest is 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 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 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.
