Scottish Rugby say that “all relevant players” in the Scotland women’s set up have “clarity on their situation” in terms of contracts going forward.
A spokesman for the governing body said: “Scottish Rugby has been engaged with the Scotland Women playing group over many months to work through the contracting process in a timely manner ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
“We have now concluded contracting discussions with all members of the Rugby World Cup training squad.
“We have listened to the group and worked with them on timeframes in order to minimise disruption to their training environment. Our target was to ensure all relevant players had clarity on their situation ahead of the Rugby World Cup warm-up matches, which we have done.
“We acknowledge that there is no right time for a process like this to take place but we are fully committed to moving the high-performance programme for women’s rugby in Scotland forward.
“We will continue to support the squad fully in the final build up to the Rugby World Cup and during the tournament itself. We want their success to be the springboard for the future development of the game.”
The statement was released on Thursday afternoon after national team skipper Rachel Malcolm stated earlier in the day that preparations for the Summer Tests and the World Cup have been “very disruptive” due to off field issues.
The squad are in Italy just now preparing for a match in Viadana on Friday evening and there should be excitement in the air with the first game at the showpiece event coming up on August 23 versus Wales in Manchester.
However, off field issues are sadly top of the agenda with the announcement last Friday that head coach Bryan Easson’s will be leaving after the tournament and players’ discussions with Scottish Rugby about contracts and what will happen from October onwards dominating the things.
Easson has been in his role since 2020, but it was announced in a press release last Friday via the governing body that he will not be in post come October.
Asked if she had known about that news for some time, Malcolm said: “Actually, I haven’t been aware of it for too long, it was probably similar timings to you guys [the media] finding out, so it’s obviously a shock.
“I think, for us as players, the timing of it was quite upsetting.
“What we have achieved in the time that Bryan has been in charge is pretty spectacular.
“I think the opportunity to go and do his career justice at this World Cup is definitely something that’s driving us as players.”
Current squad members have also been locked in discussions with the governing body about their contracts post-tournament and Malcolm added: “It’s not ideal prep whatsoever for a World Cup. It’s been very disruptive.
“It’s made my job harder as my ethos as a captain is to make my players feel like superwomen. I also want to make them feel valued and make them feel like they belong.
“The processes which have gone on behind the scenes have definitely done almost the opposite of those three things.
“It’s definitely made my job a little bit tougher.”
Easson, whose current contract was running out after the World Cup, says that discussions over his future were “sticky”.
“We have been in discussions for a long time just to see what’s happening and it’s been sticky,” the man who has worked at Scottish Rugby for 25 plus years in various roles admitted.
“I had a conversation with Alex [Williamson, the CEO] three or four weeks ago and, with my contract running out, it was felt that it was the right time to move on and that was a conversation between two adults.
“The timing of discussions and decisions are always difficult, especially when you’re coming into a Rugby World Cup. I think that was probably more of a frustration than anything.”
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Scottish Gas Murrayfield, the home of Scottish Rugby, is pictured
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