Ceitidh Ainsworth has revealed that she was “shocked, surprised and excited” to earn her first two international caps for Scotland against heavyweight opponents Canada and New Zealand.
After a debut off the bench versus Canada on September 12, she started against New Zealand at the weekend just gone in WXV Global Series action and interim head coach Dave Butcher and his staff rate the 22-year-old highly.
She is in contention to play against Australia this weekend and said: “I was really shocked, surprised and excited when I found out I was on the bench against Canada and then starting against New Zealand.
“Currently I am learning quite a new position as I have mainly played stand-off before so you don’t really know how it’s going to go so every week, you just go out there and train well and hope for the best.
“To get a start against New Zealand was really exciting and it was breathtaking to face up to the Haka before the match. I didn’t really know what to expect going into it, but it was cool.
“Everyone’s been so supportive, especially before the Canada game for my first time on the bench and then coming on.
“There were barely any nerves because everyone was so supportive. They were saying ‘we’ve got your back, just go play your game’ which was really nice, really lovely.”
As Stirling County product Ainsworth mentioned, she has been learning the scrum-half position while also getting used to being in an international environment.
Asked what that has been like, the Glasgow Warrior explained: “I find that I’m running a lot more!
“But seriously, learning more about being a scrum-half has been really exciting, I’ve really enjoyed making the transition and then getting to go out there and show what I can do really.
“I have been working on making sure I get to the breakdowns quickly, giving a good service.
“Obviously you need a different type of pass to a stand-off so I have been working on that and really been keeping ‘eyes up’ as I go to the breakdown really.
“Daggy [Edinburgh Rugby women’s head coach Louise Dalgliesh] has come into Scotland camp quite a few times to work with me in the recent weeks.
“And, in the under-21s earlier in the year, I had [former England and Scotland nine] Caity Mattinson helping which was good too.”
Ainsworth’s sister Ciorstaidh is a Scotland rugby league international and her dad Mark is head coach of current Arnold Clark Women’s Premiership champions Stirling County and, ahead of the Australia game, she added: “Despite tough results against Canada and New Zealand, there has been progress.
“Hopefully we can just keep working hard and push for a good result in the next game.”
Next up in the final game of the Vodafone Scotland WXV Series campaign – part of the wider WXV Global Series presented by Mitsubishi Electric featuring the top sides in the world – for Scotland is Australia this coming Saturday at the Hive.
Scotland’s away WXV Global Series fixtures will take place against Australia on October 17 and October 23.
Ceitidh Ainsworth is pictured in action versus the Black Ferns – thanks to ST Photography
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