| Birth name | Louise Iona Matheson McMillan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 27 July 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 77 kg (170 lb; 12 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Louise Iona Matheson McMillan (born 27 July 1997) is a Scottish rugby player from Glasgow. She plays for Scotland and has frequently represented them in major championships since 2016, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.
McMillan has played for Hillhead Jordanhill since 2015 in Back Row. [1] She captained the team to win the Sarah Beaney Cup in 2017 and 2018. The team finished the 2018 season as Tennent's Women's Premier League Champions. [2]
In July 2022 she signed for Saracens Women [3] [4] and made her debut against Loughborough Lightning on the first round of the 2022–23 Premier 15s [5]
McMillan won her first Scotland cap against Spain when she started in the first Women's Rugby World Cup Qualifier at Scotstoun Stadium in November 2016. [6] She has continued to play for the team, moving from Back Row to Second Row, which she played for the first time in 2019.
She was in Scotland Women U19 7s in 2013 and selected for the U20 squad, alongside her sister Siobhan, in 2014/15. She was in the Scotland Women 7s squad, which won the Rugby Europe Trophy in 2015 to gain promotion to the Grand Prix competition.
A low point for McMillan came in January 2019 when she broke her scapula in a match away to Spain in Madrid. [7]
In the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship match against England, the team lost 52–10 to the championship winners. This was her first outing as a lock for the Scottish team. They went on to take fifth place in the championship. [8] She was "sin binned" in the match against Italy in the closing minutes for collapsing a maul that was creeping towards the line and that resulted in a penalty try. They lost the match 41-20 and went on to beat Wales. [9] During the championship, McMillan commented on the Scottish team's improved performance from the previous year. [10]
She is a member of the Scottish Rugby Academy and trains with the national team at Scotstoun Stadium.
In the early stages of her international career she was described by The Scotsman as "an exciting back-row prospect" in a profile of the player. [6]
Louise Iona Matheson McMillan is a former Kilbarchan Primary School and Gryffe High School pupil, who has recently completed a law degree at the University of Glasgow and works for Morgan Stanley. Before beginning her studies, she took a year out and worked at law firm Pinsent Masons, balancing this with her rugby commitments for the Scotland under-20s squad. [7] She completed her law studies at Glasgow during the COVID-19 pandemic and has spoken about her experience of playing international rugby while being at university, saying: "I went into halls of residence, but I was not really living the ‘freshers’ lifestyle at all, I was first to bed and first to get up - it was worth it all when I earned my first full Scotland cap against Spain though [in November 2016]." [7]
McMillan started playing rugby at Birkmyre minis, and has previously stated that she struggled with this experience of mixed rugby, where she said the boys would not pass the ball her way. [7] She then played for Hillhead Jordanhill U18s.
Her sister Siobhan has previously played for Scotland and several times they have played together in national matches.
Scottish rugby player Tyrone Holmes has mentored her as part of his work with the Glasgow-based players.
The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league system, known as the Scottish League Championship, and the Scottish National teams. The SRU is headed by the President and Chairman, with Mark Dodson acting as the Chief Executive Officer. Dee Bradbury became the first female president of a Tier 1 rugby nation upon her appointment on 4 August 2018.
Hillhead Jordanhill Rugby Football Club (HJRFC) is a Scottish rugby union club based in Glasgow, Scotland. HJRFC has roots going as far back as 1904 with the formation of the Hillhead Sports Club, however, the rugby club as we know it today was founded in 1988 with a Women's section added in 1995, they have played at their current home ground, Hughenden in the West End of Glasgow since then. Despite their name, the club is not located in either Hillhead or Jordanhill, although the pre-merger clubs did have historical links with these areas. Hughenden is located in Hyndland beside Great Western Road.
The Scottish Women's Rugby Union (SWRU) was the national governing body for women's rugby union in Scotland. It was responsible for the governance of women's rugby union within Scotland. Its role was all encompassing. It went from youth recruitment, through administrating all senior based competition, through to the performance and management of the Scotland women's national rugby union team.
Hughenden is a multi-sports venue in the Hyndland area of Glasgow, Scotland. It has been the home since 1924 of Hillhead Sports Club, a private members' club catering for cricket, rugby union and tennis. Hughenden is best known as a rugby venue and is the home ground of Hillhead Jordanhill RFC. It was also used as the home ground of the professional Glasgow Rugby team from 1996 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007. The main rugby ground has a capacity of 6,000.
The Scottish Womens Premiership is the top national competition for women's rugby union clubs in Scotland. The 2021-2022 season began on 12 September 2021. Ayr RFC decided to step down from the Premiership to National League Division 1, they were replaced by Heriot’s Blues Women.
Hillhead Rugby Football Club is a former rugby union football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1904 as a club for former pupils of Hillhead High School, it lasted until 1988 when it merged with Jordanhill RFC to form Hillhead Jordanhill RFC.
Alan Watt is a former Scotland national rugby union team international rugby union player. He played for Glasgow High Kelvinside, Currie and Hillhead Jordanhill - as well as Glasgow Warriors.
The Women's domestic rugby union leagues in Scotland are organised in a similar vein to the men's domestic leagues: on a national basis for the top leagues and regional leagues below feeding into those leagues.
The Scottish Rugby Academy provides Scotland's up and coming rugby stars a dedicated focused routeway for development into the professional game. Entry is restricted to Scottish qualified students and both male and female entrants are accepted into 4 regional academies. The 2017–18 season sees the third year of the academy.
The Scottish Rugby Academy provides Scotland's up and coming rugby stars a dedicated focused routeway for development into the professional game. Entry is restricted to Scottish qualified students and both male and female entrants are accepted into 4 regional academies. The 2018–19 season sees the fourth year of the academy, now sponsored by Fosroc.
Glasgow City Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held by Cartha Queens Park, in Dumbreck in the south side of Glasgow. The tournament was previously known as the Cartha Sevens and the Cartha Queens Park Sevens.
Panashe Muzambe is a Scottish professional rugby union player. She is the first black woman to play rugby for Scotland.
Rachel Ann Malcolm is a Scottish professional rugby player for Loughborough Lightning in the Allianz Premier 15s and Scotland Women. She plays predominantly as a Openside Flanker, however is also at home across the back row. She captained Scotland for the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship, but she was forced to step down due to a knee injury in the team's opening game.
Lisa Martin is a Scottish rugby union player, who captained the national side from 2016 to 2018. She has made at least 50 appearances for Scotland. At club level, Martin plays for Saracens Women.
Hannah Smith is a Scottish rugby player from Falkirk. Since 2013, she has played in multiple Women's Six Nations Championships, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship. She was selected for the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics Team GB Rugby Sevens.
Abi Evans is a Scottish rugby union player from Livingston who played in the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship. She has played international rugby for Scotland since 2015.
Megan Gaffney is a former Scottish rugby union player. She is from Edinburgh and has competed internationally for Scotland since 2011. She has twice been selected for the Great Britain 7s training squad for the Rio and Tokyo Olympics. She retired from international rugby at the end of 2022.
Molly Wright is a New Zealand-born Scottish rugby union player who plays for Sale Sharks Women in Premiership Women's Rugby.
Mairi McDonald is a Scottish rugby player from Glasgow who has played for the Scottish Women's team since 2018, including in the 2020 Women's Six Nations and 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship. She played in her first Six Nations Championship at the age of 22 and has already earned six international caps at the age of 23.
Emma Orr is a Scottish rugby player from Biggar who plays for the Scotland women's national rugby union team and the Scotland women's national rugby sevens team. Currently plays club rugby for Heriots Blues Women in the Scottish Premiership.
