Scotland have been drawn in a pool with Canada, Wales, and Fiji at next summer’s Rugby World Cup in England.
Bryan Easson’s side, who at seventh in the world rankings were seeded in the second pot, are aiming to reach the knockout stages after exiting in the groups in 2022.
The Scots will be encouraged with the draw having defeated Wales and Fiji comfortably last month.
Scotland recorded consecutive victories over Wales for the first time since 2005 with a 40-14 win at the Hive, and scored nine tries to defeat the Fijians 59-10 in their first ever meeting.
However, Wales beat the Scots 18-15 in the pool stage two years ago.
“We’re pretty used to playing them [Wales] and it’s always super close. So I’m excited,” Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm told the BBC.
Canada, the top seeds in the pool and ranked second in the world, emerged from Scotstoun with a 28-25 victory when they last met Scotland in 2018.
Should Scotland escape from the pool as runners-up they would face a likely encounter with tournament favourites and hosts England.
Scotland finished second in the second tier WXV2 competition after narrowly losing their decider against Australia last week, while Canada beat France and Ireland but lost to England in the division above.
The draw was conducted on BBC’s The One Show by England’s 2014 World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi.
The tournament begins on Friday 22 August with England in action at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and culminates in the final at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium on 27 September.
Scotland return to action in the spring for the Women’s Six Nations, hosting Wales, Italy and Ireland at Hive Stadium and travelling to England and France.
