Caity Mattinson says playing for the Barbarians on Saturday will be a “dream come true”.
The Barbarians men have been known for years as a team that like to play with flair and, since its formation in 2017, the Barbarians women’s team has done the same.
On Saturday the men will take on Wales at 2pm at Allianz Stadium Twickenham in London with the women taking on their Welsh counterparts at 5pm in an exciting double header.
And Mattinson, the 30-year-old scrum-half who earned seven caps for England between 2017 and 2018 and then 37 caps for Scotland between 2022 and 2025 before retiring after the Rugby World Cup late last year, is in the women’s squad along with fellow Scots Christine Belisle, Sarah Bonar and Jenny Maxwell.
“It’s genuinely a dream come true to be linking up with the Barbarians this week,” Mattinson said.
“When I first started showing an interest in rugby as young kid my dad showed me ‘the greatest try ever’ when Welsh legend Gareth Edwards scored for the Baa Baas against New Zealand in 1973.
“I was hooked from that moment on and my dad explained to me all about the players from across the world coming together and all about just what an incredible representation of rugby values the Barbarians is.
“To be part of Barbarians history and be able to finish my career with a reminder of why I fell in love with the game is a huge honour and one that I feel extremely lucky and grateful to have.
“I’m looking forward to training and playing with the amazing squad that has been put together. There’s lots of familiar faces from different points across my career in the group so I can’t wait to catch up with them all as well as getting to know players I’ve never met – that is what makes the Baa Baas special and I am definitely excited.
“And, of course, it goes without saying that as part of all of it I can’t wait to see the other Scots again! I love CB, Bons and Jen so it will be very special to share this experience with them, especially as it is the last ever game at the top level for some of us.”
The group is being coached by the highly respected duo of Susie Appleby and Sarah Hunter and there are players from England, Spain, America, Wales, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in the squad along with the Scots and it will be great to see them coming together and playing.
When players turn out for the Barbarians they get to wear their own socks.
The rugby journey for Mattinson – who was born in Inverness and lived on the Isle of Skye for a spell in her childhood – began at the Tynedale club in the north of England and she went on to represent Worcester Warriors, Gloucester Hartpury and Trailfinders Women professionally with a few appearances for Edinburgh Rugby in there too.
With Scotland she played in two World Cups, helped the national side win WXV 2 in 2023 and also represented Team Scotland in sevens at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022.
And on the sock question she said: “I will wear one Tynedale sock as I grew up there, the club has lots of family connections and it still feels like home whenever I go back.
“I will also wear one Worcester Warriors sock, I have never been happier than in my time there, the environment and the people in our women’s team and the connection I built up in the local area through coaching in both the community and academy set ups there is something I still miss to this day.
“This season since retiring from playing I have been loving my role at coaching role at Coventry working with their men’s academy programme and I have been really well supported to help me continue learning and adjust to life without playing.
“It was also great to get a taste of coaching in Scotland with the under-21s during the age-grade Six Nations Series in April and May. I would love to be back up north and contributing to Scottish rugby in a new way when the time is right, but for this week my focus is on getting the boots back on and embracing the special Barbarians experience.”
Belisle, Bonar and Mattinson will start and Maxwell will come off the bench in the Barbarians game.
Caity Mattinson is pictured – thanks to the Barbarians
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