The number on everyone’s minds at Murrayfield on Saturday will be 30,000 if, as expected, more than that number of supporters are there to see Scotland women playing England at the national rugby stadium.
Just four years ago the crowd for the Scotland-England match was only 3,988 at Hive Stadium next door to Murrayfield and when the Red Roses were in town two years ago the Hive was sold out with 7,774 spectators packed in.
That was a record home crowd for the women’s national team at the time and now that will be smashed in round two of the Women’s Six Nations. Indeed, at time of writing on Friday afternoon, the 29,000 barrier has just been broken.
The Scotland women’s football team’s record home attendance is 18,555 against Jamaica at Hampden just before the 2019 World Cup.
Saturday’s game at Murrayfield will be the highest attended women’s sporting event in Scotland since the 2019 Solheim Cup golf at Gleneagles which was played over three days and attracted more than 90,000 golf fans.
It was a big decision by then Scottish Rugby’s head of women and girls’ strategy Gemma Fay to announce last June that the governing body would be moving a women’s international into the 67,144-capacity Murrayfield.
The hope was that the bounce from the Rugby World Cup in England a few months later would help accelerate ticket sales and that is what has happened.
From day one Fay, who is now managing director of women’s rugby, was aiming for an attendance of 30,000 and she, Scottish Rugby’s chief customer officer Olaf Gueldner and the governing body’s marketing staff must take credit for getting close to such a number.
However, the ones who must take the most credit for the numbers of fans that will be heading through the turnstiles on Saturday have to be the Scotland players.
And not just the 23 Scotland players who will be involved in this game, but all 251 players – some of whom have sadly passed away – who have been capped since the first ever Test match of now well over 200 was played by Scotland against Ireland at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh on Valentine’s Day 1993 with the hosts winning 10-0.
Where the women’s game now is night and day from back then and, as Scotland take on the world champions on Saturday, it is fitting that so many of the 251 capped players from over the last 33 years will be in the stands watching.
And while the game is so different now, as Scotland get ready to play for a ninth time at Murrayfield and for the first time with a crowd in a standalone match one thing has not changed since 1993 is this… the close bonds between the Scotland women’s players past and present.
It is a special thing to say you have represented your country at anything, but to have done it alongside friends and then made more friends along the way must make it extra special.
Playing for Scotland women and the cap number they have will mean different things to different people, but, from cap number one Catriona Binnie to cap number 251 Demi Swann, everyone has played their part in taking the game to the level it is at now in Scotland in terms of exposure and interest.
It might not have been glamourous back in the day and there were not huge crowds or television cameras there, but each Test appearance is just as precious as the next and the groundwork put in by everyone who has ever worn the dark blue shirt for Scotland women to get things to this point should be applauded and celebrated.
Indeed, current Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm – cap number 197 – said on Friday morning after the team run at the famous stadium: “Something we talk about almost every week in camp is how the only reason that we are here and in this position is because of the work that’s gone before us.
“We often talk about being custodians of the shirt. This is not my shirt, it is my shirt while I have it on my back, but it was someone else’s before me it’s going to be someone else’s in the future and it’s always about leaving it in a better place.
“And we’re on this stage, we’re in this stadium because of the work that’s gone on not just over the last five or 10 years, but over the last however many years since that first ever game in 1993.
“We truly believe that we represent those players that came before us and that we set the platform for those players that are going to come after us. That’s a responsibility that we have on our shoulders and a responsibility that we take very seriously.”
As a journalist since 2004, I have covered this team since the 2005 Six Nations when Scotland’s home games were played at Murrayfield, but as double headers with the men’s games.
Since then, there have been lots of different stadiums used for home games and a hell of a lot of ups and downs in women’s rugby in Scotland, but this weekend feels like a special moment that needs to be enjoyed by all who are invested in the game and then built on.
Over the years I have been lucky enough to become friends with a number of the 251 capped players and interview many others and I am pleased that so many of them will be present to enjoy the occasion this weekend.
It’s also a fitting time to remember the players from the cap list who are no longer with us, but who will no doubt be looking down and bursting with pride
Wearing the thistle is special and the group of players who have got Scotland here are special.
And let’s hope the most important number becomes 252 on Saturday if replacement scrum-half Rianna Darroch comes on for a debut off the bench.
- The Scotland women’s team has played eight games at Murrayfield before starting with Sweden in 2002, two games in 2004, two in 2005, two in 2006 and one in 2020.
The first seven of those were played as double headers alongside men’s games whilst the most recent occasion six years ago was on a snowy Monday afternoon in front of a handful of people behind closed doors when Scotland played England after Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow had been deemed unplayable thanks to Storm Ciara the day before.
- Over 25,000 tickets have been sold for Scotland-England, join in the fun by getting tickets here – before the senior game at 1.30pm at Murrayfield the under-21 sides from both countries are meeting at Hive Stadium at 11am.
The Scotland women’s squads of 1993 and 2026 are pictured – thanks to Scottish Rugby
The Women’s Six Nations is here and the 2026 event runs from April 11 to May 17 and, between April 6 and May 20, GH Media will be covering Scotland’s campaign and the wider tournament – keep an eye out for content and thanks to everyone who supports GH Media’s work within women’s rugby