Lochaber rugby player Ailsa Graham has been reflecting on an “amazing” Women’s World Cup for her personally after her yarn art really captured people’s attention and allowed her to meet Scotland and England players during the showpiece event.
Earlier in the tournament in England we heard how Graham, 30, handed out over 200 special crocheted thistles to Scotland supporters and players at the Fiji match. On that day at the Salford Community Stadium in Manchester she was spoken to by World Rugby’s content channels such was the interest in her project.
And, through watching that content, England winger Abby Dow contacted Graham via Instagram to see if they could meet up.
Dow is well known to be a keen crocheter too and was one of the inspirations behind Ailsa’s handiwork in recent times after the Red Roses launched their yarn art campaign for the World Cup.
On Sunday, Graham travelled down to Bristol to watch Scotland take on England in the World Cup quarter-final at Ashton Gate.
Scotland lost 40-8, but the disappointing result was tempered somewhat for Graham when she managed to meet Dow, who scored an amazing 50th international try for England during the game, after the final whistle.
“The whole World Cup experience has been amazing for me and it was really cool to meet Abby Dow on Sunday,” Graham stated.
“Abby had seen the World Rugby content about my thistles after the Fiji game and said she wanted to say hello to me after the quarter-final match if possible.
“It was super busy and the players were soaked after all the rain there had been.
“As a result, they had started to go into the changing rooms and I thought I had missed her, but then Abby came back out to speak to me which was really nice of her.
“I was able to give her crocheted thistles twined with roses that I’d made specially and then we chatted about crochet mainly.
“It was just really nice that such a big star of women’s rugby wanted to meet me and talk about being nerdy about crochet!
“Interacting with supporters and players and the games I was at, handing out my thistles and just making people smile means that I loved the World Cup experience.
“I was so impressed with the amount of time that players put in after the matches meeting fans and I was so touched when the Scotland players told me how much they liked the thistles I had send them before the tournament.
“And being able to give Rhona Lloyd some at the Fiji game and seeing her reaction was super special.
“I started doing more yarn art because I was off work over the summer with a post-concussion syndrome which left me unable to work and exercise and really limited my normal day activities.
“I never thought it would lead me to be involved in a World Cup and meet so many great people so for that I am grateful.”
Ailsa Graham is pictured meeting Abby Dow – thanks to Ruby Adam Photography
From August 7 until September 30, GH Media will be following the Scotland World Cup journey all of the way. We will be at all of the Scotland matches down south and will be bringing you all of the interviews and news from camp as well as taking a wider look at the tournament as a whole and its impact on the women’s game. Thanks to Quirky Chocolate and other supporters for allowing this content to happen and to readers for engaging with it.
