Head coach Louise Dalgliesh is excited to see Scotland get their women’s under-21 Six Nations Series campaign underway on Saturday at Hive Stadium versus England (11am, live on YouTube)
And, after naming the matchday 23 which includes loosehead prop Poppy Fletcher and subs Aila Ronald, Imogen Spence and Ceitidh Ainsworth who are currently part of the senior Scotland training squad, Dalgliesh has explained why she has gone for Megan Hyland as skipper.
“Megan’s just someone who connects so well across the group,” former Scotland cap Dalgliesh said.
“We talk about how cohesive we want to be as a group and when we’ve got players coming in from multiple environments we have to make sure that we’re pulling together.
“And I think Megan is just someone who really engages with individuals and from a leadership and behaviours point of view she’s somebody who just exemplifies a lot of the character and the behaviours that we want to go after.”
Hyland’s rugby journey began when she was young when a taster session at her primary school left her hooked.
Originally from Stonehaven, she played from primary two to primary seven at the Mackie club and then she had spells with Montrose and Dundee and, in her senior career to date, she has played for Garioch and now Heriot’s.
The 20-year-old back-row who has now converted to hooker has also played a lot for Scotland U20 and Glasgow Warriors and will be supported in this game by No.8 Catriona Moody and centre Lucy MacRae (both Edinburgh Rugby/University of Edinburgh) who are the vice-captains.
This weekend marks the first of three fixtures, with the team travelling to France on May 2 before finishing back at the Hive in Edinburgh on May 10 versus Italy.
Five players in each matchday 23 are allowed to be overage and under-23 and Dalgliesh added: “I think the pathway of players in Scotland is super important because of the player numbers we have and what we want to do moving forward.
“Since head coach Sione Fukofuka and his [Scotland senior] coaching team have come in the openness and the willingness to connect has been brilliant.
“It’s been really important for our players to know that there is a route they can access to get to the top and it’s been really important from a coaching perspective for us with the under-21s to replicate some of the behaviours, some of the standards, some of the messaging that is used in the senior squad as we want to get those things across to the entire women’s performance pathway in Scotland.
“The fact that we’re both [the under-21s and the seniors] are being able to go out on the same day at the Hive and then at Scottish Gas Murrayfield is a brilliant opportunity for both squads, particularly for some of the younger players in our group for who maybe this is their first experience in a representative pathway.
“Weekends like the one coming up show them what they can be doing in future.”
Already in his short time in charge of the seniors, Fukofuka has shown he is not afraid to give age-grade eligible players like Emily Coubrough, Holland Bogan and Rianna Darroch a shot and that will spur on their pals in the under-21s.
Coaching-wise, Dalgliesh has support in this programme from Matty Douglas, who was involved with the under-20 programme last year, as assistant coach, Ross Young as forwards coach and skills coach and attack coach Caity Mattinson.
The England squad is here.
- The other round one under-21 Six Nations Series games see Ireland play Italy at the Dexcom Stadium in Galway (2.20pm, live on YouTube) and Wales versus France at Cardiff Arms Park (6.15pm, live on YouTube).
- 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.
Megan Hyland is pictured – thanks to Glasgow Warriors
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