Sarah Laws explains how she nailed historic Scotland penalty

Edinburgh University student Sarah Law has been recounting the moment she kicked Scotland's Women to a historic rugby victory.

Sarah Law kept her cool at the right time for Scotland. Pic: SNS

On Friday night, with Scotland trailing 14-12 to Wales at Broadwood Stadium, the hosts were awarded a penalty with three minutes remaining.

If they could get the three points they knew that they would not only secure a 15-14 win, but a first Six Nations triumph since 2010 when the team defeated France 10-8.

That was a wait of over 30 matches and Law has played in most of the losses since 2013.

The scrum-half, who had kicked a conversion just before half-time following Lisa Thomson’s try, was the one tasked with taking the penalty.

“It was just about being composed when I stood over the ball,” the 22-year-old, who also represents Murrayfield Wanderers, said.

“We had built ourselves into a really good position on the field and we knew that the game was there for the taking because we were playing some good rugby.

“Sometimes hooker Lana Skeldon takes our long distance kicks at goal, but she had just gone down injured at that moment so myself and stand-off Helen Nelson had a chat and I decided to go for it.

“As a kicker, you sometimes don’t want too long to think about it and I just stuck to my routine and thankfully the kick went over.

“I had missed a couple against Ireland in the first Six Nations match earlier in the month, but I had put that to the back of my mind and it is all about trusting your technique.”

Law first starting playing rugby at her local club Penicuik and has since progressed to play for Wanderers, the university and the national side.

She has been around the Scotland set-up since she was a teenager and is now a key player, winning her 28th cap on Friday night in Cumbernauld.

“At the end when the ball was kicked dead and the referee blew the whistle we were all in a bit of shock and everyone was jumping up and down,” Law stated.

“This may have been our first win for a while, but it was no fluke. We have all put in so much hard work and it is a night I won’t forget in a hurry!”