Sarah Law

Last updated
Sarah Law
Date of birth (1994-12-19) 19 December 1994 (age 29)
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Height1.64 m (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb; 11 st 9 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum-Half, Fly-Half
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2013–2022 Scotland 53 (63)
2024 Barbarians

Sarah Law (born 19 December 1994) is a former Scottish rugby player from Penicuik, near Edinburgh. She played for Scotland and represented them over fifty times internationally, including at the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship. [1] Law was the fourth Scottish woman to receive a professional rugby contract from Scotland. [2] She kicked the match-winning penalty in the win against Wales in the 2017 Women's Six Nations Championship to beat the opposing team for the first time in seven years. [3] [4] She repeated the feat under even more pressurised circumstances in 2021 when her 82nd minute conversion of a Chloe Rollie try put Scotland through to the qualification final for the Rugby World Cup at the expense of their opponents Ireland. [5]

Contents

Club career

Law started playing rugby at Penicuik Rugby Club aged five, playing in the mixed mini side throughout her primary school years until she moved to secondary school, aged 11. [6] At that point, she moved on to the Murrayfield Wanderers girls U15/U18 team. She was a scrum half for both the University team and Murrayfield Wanderers. She began playing for Wanderers' senior team in January 2012, as she had just turned 17, and helped them win the league and cup double that season. [7]

Law played in numerous schools' cup finals and, in 2012, scored 32 points and picked up Player of the Match as Wanderers beat Plockton HS to the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools Shield. [8]

She captained the winning 2017 University of Edinburgh team that played in The British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Championship, defeating Northumbria at Twickenham 48-5. [9]

In 2019, Sarah signed for Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, playing alongside Scottish team mate Lisa Thomson. [10]

International career

Law first played for Scotland 7s in June 2012. Her international 15-a-side debut took place in the England v Scotland match of 2013 in Esher against England in the Women's Six Nations opener and she scored her first points, a conversion, against Sweden in the eleven-try FIRA victory in Madrid in April 2013. [7] She played scrum half for the early part of her career, but moved to stand-off in 2019.

In 2017, she played in the match that saw Scotland's Women's team triumph for the first time in seven years in a game against Wales, which saw them secure a 15-14 victory, coming back from being 14-0 down. [3] Her role was described by the Women's Six Nations as "pivotal" to the revival of Scotland's Women's team, as she kicked the match-winning penalty in the game's closing minutes. [11]

Law attributes some of her progress in Scottish Women's rugby to the influence of coach Shade Munro, who began coaching the team in 2016. [11] In 2017, Law was the fourth Scottish woman to receive a professional rugby contract from Scotland. [2] [12] She also earned professional contracts in 2018 and 2020. [13] [14] However, she was out of action for 11 months following the 2018 Six Women's Nations Championship, during which she tore her Achilles tendon. [15]

In 2021 due to injury, Law did not receive one of the eight Scotland Rugby contracts, but received funding support from BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy. She earned her 40th cap during a 2019 tour to South Africa. [16]

The Championship marked her ninth successive year as part of Scotland’s Six Nations squad, although the team's match against Italy was her first game of any kind for 432 days due to COVID restrictions and a torn Achilles injury. [17] Scotland coach Bryan Easson brought her in at stand-off for the Women’s Six Nations match against Italy, comparing her strategic approach to a chess player: "She moves the pawns around the pitch well and what I mean is that she is a 10 in the women’s game who can think two or three phases ahead rather than phase by phase." [18]

In her international rugby career, she has made 33 starts and 20 appearances as a replacement, scoring 2 tries, 16 conversions and 6 penalty goals. [19] Her last international game was against Australia in the 2021 Rugby World Cup (played in 2022) at the Northland Events Centre, Whangarei, New Zealand [20]

In May 2024, Law announced her retirement from high-performance rugby. [21]

In September 2024, Law came briefly out of retirement to play for the Barbarians invitational team against South Africa in Cape Town., [22] becoming the first player from Penicuik Rugby Club to achieve that honour.

Personal life

Sarah Megan Law attended Penicuik High School, where she was head girl. [8] She studied Applied Mathematics at Edinburgh University, before undertaking a part-time Masters in Operational Research with Data Science. [23]

Her father played scrum half at their local club in Penicuik, which is where she picked up the game. Her younger sister Rachel also played for Scotland U20 and has been involved in the extended Scotland squad for a number of years. [24]

Outside of her rugby career, Law worked as a Data Analyst at the University of Edinburgh and is a qualified Operational Research Analyst.

Honours

Related Research Articles

Donna Kennedy is a Scottish rugby union coach and former international player who played for the national team from 1993 to 2010. She was the world's most-capped women's player from 2004 to 2016 and the first Scottish player — woman or man — to reach 100 international caps. As of November 2017, she remains the most-capped player in Scotland with 115 caps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollie Davidson</span> Scottish rugby union player and referee

Hollie Davidson is a professional rugby union referee who is contracted with the Scottish Rugby Union.

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.

Emma Wassell is a Scottish rugby union player from Aberdeen. She made her debut for Scotland's national team in the opening Six Nations match of 2014 and has played in every subsequent national match, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.

Helen Nelson is a Scottish rugby union player. She played for Scotland and was captain for the team at the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship in their winning match against Wales. She was the captain of the Scotland Rugby Union Sevens Captain from 2018 to 2019 and has also been a member of the Scottish Alpine Ski Team (2009-2012).

Louise Iona Matheson McMillan 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenny Maxwell (rugby union)</span> Rugby player

Jenny Maxwell is a Scottish professional rugby union player, who plays for Scotland Women. She was one of the team for the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship. She jointly holds the record for the most Scotland Women's 7s caps and has over 30 caps for XVs.

Lisa Thomson is a Scottish rugby union player, who captained for Scotland Women in 2018–19. She plays for Scotland and was vice-captain for the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.

Rachel McLachlan is a Scottish rugby player from Edinburgh and 2015 U18 and U21 Scottish Judo Champion. Within nine months of starting rugby, she was asked to join the Scottish team. She played in the 2018, 2019 and 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siobhan Cattigan</span> Scottish rugby union player (1995–2021)

Siobhan Cattigan was a Scottish rugby union player. She represented Scotland in international rugby from 2018 until her death in 2021.

Lana Skeldon is a Scottish professional rugby player from Hawick. She has played in multiple Women's Six Nations Championships, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhona Lloyd</span> Scotland international rugby union player

Rhona Lloyd is a Scottish professional rugby union player from Edinburgh. She has played in multiple Women's Six Nations Championships, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship. She collected 25 caps for Scotland before the age of 23.

Hannah Smith born in Falkirk, Scotland. Smith has represented their country in both rugby and Touch. 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.

Katie Dougan is a Scottish rugby player from Fort William who has played in multiple Women's Six Nations Championships, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.

Liz Musgrove is a Scottish rugby player from Edinburgh who has played in multiple Women's Six Nations Championships, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship, despite only taking up the sport at the age of 20. She is also a Junior British Judo Champion.

Nicola Howat is a Scottish rugby player from Edinburgh who has played in multiple Women's Six Nations Championships, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.

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.

References

  1. ↑ "Sarah Law is backed to pull the strings at stand-off for Scotland against Italy in Women's Six Nations". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  2. 1 2 topofthemoon (2017-09-18). "Scottish Rugby Academy – progress report". On Top Of The Moon. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  3. 1 2 "Law gets her kicks for Scotland Women". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  4. ↑ "Sarah Laws explains how she nailed historic Scotland penalty". www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  5. ↑ "RWC Qualifiers: Ireland v Scotland: ice cool Sarah Law seals historic win". The Offside Line. 25 September 2021. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
  6. ↑ "Penicuik's Sarah Law makes rugby return after year out in Scotland Six Nations match". www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  7. 1 2 "Sarah Law". Scottish Rugby Union. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  8. 1 2 "Ex-Pupil To Make Penicuik Proud". The Penicuik Cuckoo. 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  9. ↑ "Rugby success for Edinburgh at Twickenham". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  10. ↑ "SA 2019: New shark Sarah bringing bite to Scottish attack – GH Media" . Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  11. 1 2 "Sarah Law pivotal to Scotland Women's revival". Six Nations Rugby. 2017-03-09. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  12. ↑ "Fourth Scottish woman gets pro rugby contract". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  13. ↑ September 2018, Chris Heal Thursday 20. "Scottish Varsity 2018 Preview: University of Edinburgh v University of St Andrews". Talking Rugby Union. Retrieved 2021-05-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ "Scotland award eight contracts". Scrum Queens. 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  15. ↑ "SA 2019: New shark Sarah bringing bite to Scottish attack – GH Media" . Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  16. ↑ Scotland Fly-Half Sarah Law on 40th cap , retrieved 2021-04-21
  17. ↑ "Penicuik's Sarah Law makes rugby return after year out in Scotland Six Nations match". www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  18. ↑ "Sarah Law is backed to pull the strings at stand-off for Scotland against Italy in Women's Six Nations". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  19. ↑ "Sarah Law". Scottish Rugby Union. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
  20. ↑ "2021 Rugby World Cup Pool A", Wikipedia, 2024-03-18, retrieved 2024-06-10
  21. ↑ "Former Scotland player Law retires from rugby". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  22. ↑ "Barbarian women's squad announced as seven international stars set to play final match". 2024-08-27. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  23. ↑ "Sarah Law pivotal to Scotland Women's revival". Six Nations Rugby. 2017-03-09. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  24. ↑ Girls Series | Q&A with Lisa Thomson and Sarah Law , retrieved 2021-05-05
  25. ↑ "The Alex Currie Award". www.eusu.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  26. ↑ "Executive Committee Awards". www.eusu.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  27. ↑ "Ladies Rugby". www.eusu.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  28. ↑ "Ladies Rugby". www.eusu.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.