Scotland women's national rugby union team

For the men's team, see Scotland national rugby union team. For the women's sevens team, see Scotland women's national rugby sevens team.

Scotland

Union	Scottish Rugby Union
Head coach	Bryan Easson
Captain	Rachel Malcolm
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	7 (as of 28 October 2024)
Highest	5
First international
Scotland 10–0 Ireland   ( Edinburgh, Scotland; 14 February 1993)
Biggest win
Russia 0–84 Scotland   ( Enköping, Sweden; 17 May 2009)
Biggest defeat
England 89–0 Scotland   ( Twickenham, England; 13 March 2011)
World Cup
Appearances	5 (First in 1994)
Best result	5th, 1994

The Scotland women's national rugby union team represents Scotland in women's international rugby union and is governed by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team competes in the annual Women's Six National Championship and has competed in five of the Women's Rugby World Cups since their hosted debut in 1994. The Nation plays an important role in the rugby world stage.

History

Scotland Women's first official test match was played against Ireland at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh on 14 February 1993, ending in a 10 - 0 win to the hosts. Leading from the front, first Scotland captain Sandra Colamartino was the scorer of both tries. ^[1]

In April of the following year, Scotland stepped in as alternate host of the 1994 Women's Rugby World Cup, finishing fifth, the team's best appearance to date. Since then, the Women's team have competed in the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2021 iterations of the tournament.

The early streak of success peaked on 21 March 1998, as a 8–5 win over England in their final match of the Home Nations Championship marked the achievement of a Grand Slam for Scotland. ^[2]

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 administering all senior based (aged 16+) competition, through to the performance and management of the Scotland women's national rugby union team.

At its AGM in June 2009, the SWRU voted unanimously in favour of amalgamating the Scottish Rugby Union and the SWRU to form an integrated national governing body rugby in Scotland.^{[ citation needed ]}

Thistle and the anthem

The thistle is the national flower, and also the symbol of the Scotland national rugby union team. According to legend the "guardian thistle" has played its part in the defence of Scotland against a night attack by Norwegian Vikings, one of whom let out a yell of pain when he stepped barefoot on a thistle, alerting the Scottish defenders. The Latin Nemo me impune lacessit ("No-one provokes me with impunity!" in English) is the motto of Scotland's premier chivalric order, the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle. ^[3]

"Flower of Scotland" has been used since 1990 as Scotland's unofficial national anthem. It was written by Roy Williamson of The Corries in 1967, and adopted by the SRU to replace "God Save the Queen".

Strip

Scotland have traditionally worn navy blue jerseys, white shorts and blue socks. On the occasion that Scotland is the home side and the opposing team normally wears dark colours, Scotland will use its change strip. Traditionally this is a white jersey with navy blue shorts and socks. During a sponsorship deal, purple was introduced to the traditional blue jersey. This was a significant departure from the traditional colours of blue and white, although purple is inspired from the thistle flower.

Results summary

Overall

Women's
World Rugby Rankings

• v
• t
• e

Top 20 rankings as of 8 September 2025 ^[4]

Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		England	097.76
2		Canada	090.13
3		New Zealand	088.76
4		France	085.82
5		Ireland	078.79
6		Scotland	077.39
7		Australia	075.46
8		United States	072.90
9		Italy	072.37
10		South Africa	071.62
11	1	Japan	069.72
12	1	Wales	066.13
13	1	Fiji	063.98
14	1	Spain	062.42
15		Samoa	059.72
16		Hong Kong	057.56
17		Netherlands	057.42
18		Russia	055.10
19		Kazakhstan	053.88
20		Kenya	050.68
*Change from the previous week

See also: List of Scotland women's national rugby union team matches

(Full internationals only)
Correct as of 19 June 2025

Rugby: Scotland internationals 1993–

Opponent	First game	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Percentage
Australia	1999	4	0	0	4	0.00%
Belgium	2009	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Canada	1994	7	1	0	6	14.29%
Colombia	2022	1	1	0	0	100.00%
England	1994	34	2	0	32	5.88%
Fiji	2024	1	1	0	0	100%
France	1998	30	5	1	24	16.67%
Ireland	1993	34	18	0	16	52.94%
Italy	1988	25	9	1	15	36%
Japan	2019	4	3	0	1	75%
Kazakhstan	2006	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Netherlands	1995	6	5	0	1	83.33%
New Zealand	1994	4	0	0	4	0.00%
Russia	1994	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Samoa	2002	1	1	0	0	100.00%
South Africa	2010	6	4	0	2	66.67%
Spain	1997	24	16	0	8	66.67%
Sweden	1994	9	9	0	0	100.00%
United States	1998	7	2	0	5	28.57%
Wales	1993	39	19	0	20	48.72%
Summary	1993	240	100	2	138	41.67%

World Cup

Rugby World Cup
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA
1991	Did not participate
1994	5th place	5	3	0	2	72	42
1998	6th place	5	2	0	3	89	141
2002	6th place	4	2	0	2	41	53
2006	6th place	5	3	0	2	67	72
2010	8th place	5	1	0	4	57	132
2014	Did not qualify
2017
2021	Pool stage	3	0	0	3	27	89
2025	Qualified
2029	TBD
2033
Total	5th Place	27	11	0	16	353	529
Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place Home venue

Players

Current squad

Scotland named their final 32-player squad on 7 August for the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup. ^{[5] [6]}

Note: The age and number of caps listed for each player is as of 22 August 2025, the first day of the tournament.

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Elis Martin	Hooker	(1999-05-23)23 May 1999 (aged 26)	22	Loughborough Lightning
Lana Skeldon	Hooker	(1993-10-18)18 October 1993 (aged 31)	81	Bristol Bears
Molly Wright	Hooker	(1991-05-13)13 May 1991 (aged 34)	24	Sale Sharks
Leah Bartlett	Prop	(1998-08-28)28 August 1998 (aged 26)	45	Sale Sharks
Elliann Clarke	Prop	(2001-02-16)16 February 2001 (aged 24)	22	Bristol Bears
Lisa Cockburn	Prop	(1992-12-06)6 December 1992 (aged 32)	34	Gloucester–Hartpury / Glasgow Warriors
Molly Poolman	Prop	(2004-05-10)10 May 2004 (aged 21)	5	Edinburgh
Anne Young	Prop	(2000-03-17)17 March 2000 (aged 25)	21	Loughborough Lightning
Sarah Bonar	Second row	(1994-02-09)9 February 1994 (aged 31)	47	Harlequins
Becky Boyd	Second row	(2004-05-17)17 May 2004 (aged 21)	3	Loughborough Lightning
Eva Donaldson	Second row	(2001-07-10)10 July 2001 (aged 24)	17	Sale Sharks
Adelle Ferrie	Second row	(1997-10-14)14 October 1997 (aged 27)	6	Edinburgh
Emma Wassell	Second row	(1994-12-28)28 December 1994 (aged 30)	69	Trailfinders
Evie Gallagher	Back row	(2000-08-22)22 August 2000 (aged 25)	37	Bristol Bears
Jade Konkel	Back row	(1993-12-09)9 December 1993 (aged 31)	71	Harlequins
Rachel Malcolm (c)	Back row	(1991-05-23)23 May 1991 (aged 34)	58	Trailfinders
Rachel McLachlan	Back row	(1999-02-26)26 February 1999 (aged 26)	53	Montpellier HR  [ fr ]
Alex Stewart	Back row	(2004-05-28)28 May 2004 (aged 21)	13	Edinburgh
Leia Brebner-Holden	Scrum-half	(2002-05-26)26 May 2002 (aged 23)	11	Loughborough Lightning
Rhea Clarke	Scrum-half	(2003-08-31)31 August 2003 (aged 21)	1	Bristol Bears
Caity Mattinson	Scrum-half	(1996-05-17)17 May 1996 (aged 29)	33	Trailfinders
Helen Nelson	Fly-half	(1994-05-24)24 May 1994 (aged 31)	71	Loughborough Lightning
Hannah Ramsay	Fly-half	(2003-09-04)4 September 2003 (aged 21)	2	Edinburgh
Beth Blacklock	Centre	(1997-11-13)13 November 1997 (aged 27)	4	Saracens
Emma Orr	Centre	(2003-04-06)6 April 2003 (aged 22)	30	Bristol Bears
Lisa Thomson	Centre	(1997-09-07)7 September 1997 (aged 27)	71	Trailfinders
Evie Wills	Centre	(2001-02-04)4 February 2001 (aged 24)	6	Sale Sharks
Coreen Grant	Wing	(1998-01-30)30 January 1998 (aged 27)	17	Harlequins
Rhona Lloyd	Wing	(1996-10-17)17 October 1996 (aged 28)	59	Sale Sharks
Francesca McGhie	Wing	(2003-05-07)7 May 2003 (aged 22)	22	Trailfinders
Chloe Rollie	Fullback	(1995-06-26)26 June 1995 (aged 30)	77	Toulon Provence Méditerranée  [ fr ]
Hannah Walker	Fullback	(2004-09-02)2 September 2004 (aged 20)	0	Edinburgh

Notable internationalists

• Paula Chalmers, Scrum Half, named in World Cup Star XV
• Donna Kennedy, Number 8, most capped Scottish internationalist
• Jade Konkel, Number 8, first full-time professional Scottish internationalist

Award winners

World Rugby Awards

The following Scotland players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2001: ^[7]

World Rugby Women's 15s Player of the Year Year Nominees Winners 2004 Donna Kennedy Donna Kennedy

Six Nations Awards

The following Scotland players have been recognised in the Women's Six Nations Awards since 2020: ^{[8] [9] [10] [11] [12]}

Six Nations Team of the Championship Year Forwards Backs Total No. Players No. Players 2022 — 10. Helen Nelson 1 2023 2. Lana Skeldon 15. Chloe Rollie 2 2024 — 0 2025 7. Evie Gallagher 10. Helen Nelson (2) 2

Six Nations Player of the Championship Year Nominees Winners 2025 Evie Gallagher —

Honours

• WXV
  • WXV2 Winners: 2023
• Home Nations Championship
  • Winners: 1998
• European Championship
  • Winners: 2001

See also

Women's international rugby – the most complete listing of women's international results since 1982

References

1. Bathgate, Stuart (14 February 2018). "Pioneers celebrate 25th anniversary of first Scotland women's international". The Offside Line. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
2. Harvey, Joe (19 March 2025). "Women's Six Nations 2025: All you need to know including results, fixtures and past winners". Rugby World. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
3. "The Scottish Thistle – Beautifully Bold!". Scottish at Heart. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
4. "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
5. "Scotland squad named for Women's Rugby World Cup 2025". Scottish Rugby Union. 7 August 2025. Archived from the original on 7 August 2025. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
6. "Scotland names RWC 2025 squad". Rugby World Cup 2025 England. 8 July 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
7. "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
8. "Women's Six Nations Player of the Championship". Six Nations Rugby . Retrieved 18 February 2024.
9. "2022 TikTok Women's Six Nations Team of the Championship revealed". Six Nations Rugby. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
10. "Revealed: The Fans' 2024 Team of the Championship". Six Nations Rugby. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
11. "The 2025 Guinness Women's Six Nations 'Team of The Championship'". Six Nations Rugby. 28 April 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
12. "Vote for your 2025 Guinness Player of the Championship!". Six Nations Rugby. 29 April 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.

External links

• Official website