There were bonus point wins in round one of action in the new-look Arnold Clark Women’s National League for Greenock Wanderers, West of Scotland and Wigtownshire.
The National League has been brought in this term to sit in between the Premiership and the regional league and the winners of the league will have the opportunity to go up to the Premiership for 2027/28 so it is an exciting competition.
Greenock are the early season leaders for 2026/27 in the six-team division after they won away at Ayr 77-5 on Sunday.
Katie Purves led the way with four tries for the away side at Millbrae with Summer Hughes scoring three, Orla McAllister scoring two and co-captains Rebecca McDiarmid and Julie Ballingall plus Tina Hemphill and Jayne Rice also crossing. Chantelle McKinnon kicked five conversions and Elisha Hope kicked one.
“It was a strong performance from us as Ayr are difficult to beat at home,” Greenock head coach Graham Knox said.
“They have a few injuries at the moment, but we stuck to our shape which was really pleasing.”
Neve Finlay was the try scorer for Ayr in defeat.
West of Scotland are second in the standings after a 64-19 home win over Highland.
In the game, West captain Jade Scott led the way with an amazing seven tries. Rosie Broadhurst scored two tries with Amber Johnston Aimee-May O’Keefe Toogood and Lucy Gardner all scored one apiece and Johnston converted two of them.
Scott said: “We went out there, trusted our structures and backed everything we’ve been working on at training and it was fantastic to see it all come to life on the pitch.
“There were some standout performances, starting with Natasha Burge who was a calm and collected head in the forwards. She led by example and did a brilliant job of keeping our newer players on track throughout the game.
“Amber Johnston also deserves a huge mention. Moving from her usual position of full-back into inside centre, she orchestrated our plays brilliantly and put in some massive, try saving hits.
“We also had two players pull on the West kit for the very first time in the shape of Mirrin Carmichael and Halima Sikiru. Both made a huge impact off the bench and I can’t wait to see them continue to grow and develop throughout the season.
“Highland came at us hard with some huge carries and massive hits and they didn’t let up until the final whistle. It was a brilliant test for us and we’re already looking forward to the return fixture on Halloween.”
Steph Campbell (2) and Erin Lee scored tries for Highland at Burnbrae and Lorna Young converted two of them.
Elle Briggs, the Highland co-captain alongside Mhairi Docherty, said: “It was a strong performance from West of Scotland, they had some really powerful runners and posed a real challenge to us throughout the game.
“Despite the defeat, there were plenty of positives to take for us from our first game at the National League level and I was particularly impressed with our newer players stepping up into their roles.
“We had several very successful mauls during the game and the forwards were solid in the scrums and brilliant in the lineouts, providing us with a strong platform from which to attack. We had some great performances from our backs via our set plays too, changing up the angle and getting the ball wide when they could.
“We have identified some areas of our defence and attack to work on, but we are not downhearted and there is plenty to build on.”
Wigtownshire are third after they battled hard to win away 39-28 versus Dundee Valkyries who picked up a four-try bonus point in defeat.
Captain Carla Campbell (3), Holly Murdoch (2) Isla Campbell and Laura McNeil scored the Wigtownshire tries with Sophie Hall kicking two conversions.
Wigtownshire head coach Allan McMaster said: “The players put in a great performance and the commitment and the heart that was shown throughout the game was second to none.
“They dug in when they were sore and when they were struggling to grind out a result – that was absolutely outstanding.”
For Dundee, Rachel Crawford scored three tries and co-captain Stephanie Craig scored one with Charis Blake converting all four.
Laura MacCormick, who is co-captain alongside Craig, said: “We were really proud of our efforts against Wigtownshire, there was only one point in the game with 10 minutes to go and it really could have gone either way.
“Compared to the scores in the Regional Play-Off Series games against them last year, we are delighted with this result despite the defeat and the performance shows we are growing all of the time.
“Dani Levins, a relatively new player who just keeps improving and learning and made great tackles and line breaks, was our forward of the match and Rachel Crawford, who scored a hat-trick of tries, was our back of the match.”
The league continues this coming weekend and the fixtures are here.
The three winning clubs from round one are pictured
It is shaping up to be an exciting 2026/27 season for women’s rugby in Scotland and GH Media will be covering it in detail – if any companies are keen to support this content please send an email to gary@gh-media.co.uk