Having won the Arnold Clark Premiership and then played regularly for Edinburgh Rugby during the Celtic Challenge in 2024/25, back-row Merryn Gunderson is heading into the Six Nations Women’s Summer Series with the Scotland under-20s feeling good.
The 21-year-old, who started her rugby journey with Forrester in the Minis before time at Murrayfield Wanderers and Edinburgh Harlequins and then settling down with current club Corstorphine Cougars, played a lot of minutes during the season, but the hard-running ball carrier is keen for more minutes in the next couple of weeks.
Having been named the Women’s National League Player of the Season at the Scottish Rugby Awards at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, Gunderson was then part of the under-20s squad at the inaugural Summer Series in Italy last year.
As a result of that and her last 12 months of experience, it is easy to see why under-20 head coach Louise Dalgliesh has named her as one of four leaders heading into the three matches at the Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach.
The Scots take on England on July 5 (6pm), the hosts on July 11 (6pm) and Ireland on July 17 (1pm) and Gunderson has promised to lead by her actions.
“I’m looking forward to being part of the leadership group,” Gunderson, one of the five overage (U23) players in the 30-strong squad, said.
“I think I’ll look to lead by example through my actions on the pitch, I am more of a doer than used to speaking up to people.
“As there are four of us in the leadership group [Poppy Fletcher, Nicole Flynn and Emily Norval being the others] girls will do it different way and have different styles and that will give us a good mix I think.
“I think there’s lots of things to take from last season’s Summer Series that we can bring into this event, but we’ve got a completely different squad and a lot of the girls have experienced Celtic Challenge and other big competitions and we have to look at it as something completely new.
“There are also a fair few younger players from the under-18s joining us as well and it is great to see the under-18s slot in really well.
“They’ve fitted in really well to the under-20s and they bring a lot of energy.
“With me being as one of the older ones of the group, they definitely do give us a bit more hype and bounce around a bit more which fits in perfectly and I think the squad has come together nicely.
“I feel a totally different player coming into the tournament this year. Winning the Premiership with Corstorphine unbeaten and then, apart from some time out with a concussion, I played quite a lot in the Celtic Challenge and have a lot of rugby under my belt in the last 12 months.”
Professional rugby may come calling for Gunderson one day soon, but for now the Vodafone Regional Training Centre supported player from Edinburgh balances the sport she loves alongside working two jobs.
“I am currently working with Crown Paints and a catering company,” the player, who has also studied at Borders College, explained.
“They’ve been great to work with and help me work around my rugby. You also use up your holidays for rugby, but right now I’m more than happy to do it because I love playing and I love playing for my country.
“It’ll be pretty exciting to finally get on the pitch and play games with Scotland in the coming weeks after all of the training we have done.
“I think it’ll be great to pull on a Scotland shirt once again, I can’t wait.”
Scotland supporters will be able to follow every moment of the action from the Summer Series as all matches will be streamed live on the Six Nations under-20 YouTube channel and the Scottish Rugby website.
Scotland’s under-20 squad for the Six Nations Women’s Summer Series
Forwards: Emily Coubrough, Karis Craig, Lily Crisp, Eilidh Fleming, Poppy Fletcher, Merryn Gunderson, Megan Hyland, Kaylee McHugh, Sophie Price, Megan Riach, Charlotte Russell, Aicha Sutcliffe, Faye Sutherland, Louise Taperell, Gemma Thomson, Isobel Twigger, Holly Wilson, Aisha Zameer.
Backs: Ceitidh Ainsworth, Lisa Brown, Rianna Darroch, Rebekah Douglas, Nicole Flynn, Scarlett Haddow, Emily Love, Freya MacColl, Lucy MacRae, Holly McIntyre, Poppy Mellanby, Emily Norval.
Tickets for Scotland-England at Murrayfield in April 2026 can be purchased here.
Merryn Gunderson is pictured playing for Edinburgh Rugby – thanks to James Parsons
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