Rachel McLachlan: 'In France, players are more willing to take risks'
Rachel McLachlan has never been scared of going outside her comfort zone and, as she headed into the biggest 18 months of her rugby career to date, the Scotland back-rower made a big decision last summer.
With, at that time, WXV 2 in late 2024 on the horizon followed by this year’s upcoming Guinness Women’s Six Nations and the Rugby World Cup, she decided to move from Sale Sharks in the PWR to Montpellier in France’s Elite 1.
“I wanted to try and develop myself as a rugby player in a different way and I thought the style of rugby would help me with that,” the player from Edinburgh explained.
“I also wanted to live in another country and learn another language - all those prospects just excite me so when the opportunity presented itself I was very keen to take it.
“I just thought ‘I’ve got to take this, it’s such a great opportunity’ and I have loved being here so far and testing myself and learning new things on and off the pitch.
“Before WXV 2 in South Africa [in September and October 2024] I had been over to meet everyone at Montpellier a couple of times, but when I got back from international duty I had about two days to pack everything up and move over to France which was hectic but fun.
“As soon as I got here, I thought the best thing was just to jump into it and give it everything.
“The girls had played a few games before I got here in the league and then we pretty much had games right through to Christmas and it has all cranked up again this month so it has been full on but great.
“For sure it’s difficult to come into a new country and a new rugby environment and hit the ground running right away.
“I spoke a bit of French before, but not enough to have proper conversations.
“It probably took me a few weeks to pick up the language in terms of key phrases needed for when we are on the pitch, but at the end of the day it's just rugby and you don't have to say anything too fancy.”
McLachlan, a qualified physio who turns 26 next month, now takes French classes a number of times a week and, as mentioned, she has never been scared to head outside of her comfort zone.
After all, back in 2018, she made her full Scotland debut at age 19, only 14 months after taking up the sport.
It had been a big decision for her to switch from judo - a sport in which she was making good strides and training with Olympic silver medallist Gemma Gibbons - to rugby in 2017, but it is a move she has never regretted.
And with 46 Scotland caps to her name now ahead of the Six Nations squad getting named in a few weeks’ time, the move to France was designed to make her the best player she can be ahead of big challenges to come.
“I always want to get better. I always want to be pursuing that and I think this move to France has helped me to do that,” the all-action openside said.
“In the English top flight I enjoyed my time with DMP Sharks and then Sale Sharks a lot, but I wanted a bit of a fresh start somewhere now at this age and stage of my career.
“The physical nature of the league here has definitely been good while in France, players and teams are perhaps a bit more willing to take risks.
“We always hear about French rugby and the ‘jouer, jouer’ style and when you get here you realise that most teams like to play that way.
“As a back-rower, you need to be willing to run those support lines should someone get through a gap in attack.
“Also, when you are on the ball it is about seeing space yourself and looking for the right offloads and I have enjoyed getting to do that in the middle of the pitch and in the wider channels too.
“I feel all of those things have helped my all-round game while I feel this move, both in my life and in rugby, has given me the push I needed and I’ve headed into 2025 feeling good.”
Montpellier, who are sitting seventh in the 10-team Elite One standings after an away defeat to Toulouse at the weekend, play their home matches in the Stade Sabathé.
McLachlan, whose fascinating rugby journey began at Glasgow Caledonian University and West of Scotland, loves the atmosphere there and had a little slice of home before Christmas when her parents visited to watch a match.
There is a local supporter who often goes to the games at the Stade Sabathé waving a Scottish flag and wearing a top with the name of former Scotland men’s captain Greig Laidlaw on it, so there have been reminders of her homeland at other outings too.
“It was so funny during one of my first home matches seeing that Scotland flag in the crowd while it is so good out here in France that they announce everyone’s surname over the public address system,” McLachlan said.
“There have been some interesting pronunciations of McLachlan, but seriously, the people at the club and others I have met in the local area could not have been more welcoming and tried to make me feel at home.
“It was also fun recently because we travelled to play Bordeaux to play Stade Bordelais and my Scotland teammate and one of my best friends Rhona Lloyd was playing against us.
“If you had told us both a few years ago we’d have been playing against each other in France we probably would not have believed you, but that just shows the growth of women’s rugby and the opportunities that are out there.”
And tenacious character McLachlan, who was part of Scotland’s squad at the last World Cup in New Zealand, is looking to continue to take every rugby opportunity that comes her way in 2025.
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France’s march to the Grand Slam starts tonight.
France. >20 points.
Go to commentsFor me, it’s probably France at this stage.
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