Il Nuovo Postiglione - McGhie the hat-trick heroine as Scotland overwhelm Wales in Women's Rugby World Cup

The Celtic rivals have enjoyed several close contests in the Women's Six Nations in recent seasons, with the Scots 24-21 winners in this year's edition.

But, despite reports of unrest in the Scotland camp regarding contract uncertainty after the end of the World Cup, there was no stopping the Dark Blues on Saturday.

They outscored Wales six tries to one, with Leia Brebner-Holden, Evie Gallagher and Emma Orr also going over the Welsh line as Scotland dominated in all departments.

Alex Callender's try kept Wales in touch in the first half but Scotland surged clear after the break as they recorded a record 30-point winning margin over their old rivals.

Scotland are now well-placed to qualify out of Pool B for the quarter-finals.

Wales, by contrast, will likely have to cause a major shock by beating Canada, ranked second in the world, if they are to reach the knockout stages.

"We were ruthless all the way through, we were ruthless in attack," Scotland coach Bryan Easson told the BBC. "We were pretty dangerous and defensively we made Wales look pretty ordinary."

McGhie needed just 55 seconds to open the scoring as Wales were caught cold from kick-off and the wing scored again following Brebner-Holden's try as Scotland led 17-8 at half-time.

The second half saw McGhie complete her hat-trick before Scotland pulled even further ahead.

"I've just said to the players that's just not good enough," said Wales boss Sean Lynn. "We said we wanted to be physical and Scotland, credit to them, bullied us off the park and beat us at the break-down."

He added: "At World Cups there are upsets but we need to make sure we're on song for Canada next week."

T.Cusumano--INP