Scotland rally from half-time deficit to defeat 14-woman Japan

Scotland Women beat Japan 36-12 to record a third consecutive victory but only after overturning a half-time deficit against their 14-woman opponents.

The home side notched six tries in front of 2,346 fans at the DAM Health Stadium in Edinburgh on Sunday afternoon.

Bryan Easson’s side followed up wins against Spain and Ireland thanks to a double from Rhona Lloyd and tries from Lana Skeldon, Megan Gaffney, Chloe Rollie and Lisa Thomson. Helen Nelson converted three times.

The visitors lost lock Yuna Sato to a red card in the 19th minute with Scotland 5-0 ahead, following a direct contact with Lloyd’s head.

Skeldon touched down but the visitors scored two tries through Nijiho Nagata and Sachiko Kato to take an unlikely 12-10 half-time lead.

Gaffney crossed within three minutes of the restart and Scotland went on to dominate and set themselves up for the Rugby World Cup final qualifying tournament in Dubai in February.