It has been quite a couple of years for Alex Stewart filled with highs and lows since she made a brilliant Scotland debut in a Women’s Six Nations win over Wales in Cardiff.
Thrown in at the deep end in 2024 in the competition opener, the then 19-year-old took to international rugby like a duck to water.
The player who came through the ranks at Liberton High School, Lismore, Edinburgh Harlequins and Corstorphine Cougars made 17 successful tackles during the match, topped the stats by arriving at 27 attacking breakdowns and made more ruck clean outs than anyone else with 10.
We will forgive her the late yellow card she collected because Scotland won 20-18 at Cardiff Arms Park, the first time the Scots had won in the Welsh capital in 20 years before Stewart was born.
She has been a mainstay of the Scotland squad since then battling it out with Rachel McLachlan for the number seven jersey, going to WXV 2 in 2024 and playing at last year’s Rugby World Cup.
However, before the showpiece event in England in the summer the Edinburgh University law student had a lot to deal with.
In April, midway through the Women’s Six Nations, now 21-year-old back-row Stewart was diagnosed with diabetes just days after the doctors had also confirmed that she had coeliac disease.
Type 1 diabetes is a condition which means your body cannot make a hormone called insulin. This causes the level of glucose in your blood to get too high.
Coeliac disease is an autoimmune condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. Following a gluten-free helps control symptoms and prevents long-term complications from the condition.
“I’ve got a lot more things to think about now in terms of how I go about everyday life than before, but rugby is still a big focus,” she said around that time.
“These issues are definitely manageable.”
Stewart, who now plays for Edinburgh University and Edinburgh Rugby, is coming into this Six Nations off the back of a full Celtic Challenge campaign and, with McLachlan injured, she starts this weekend’s game versus Wales at the Principality Stadium (4.40pm, live on BBC).
She will be earning cap number 18 and Scotland head coach Sione Fukofuka said: “Alex is a great human, really composed, really mature. It has been a a tough year for her and we’ve had a few conversations in and around what she’s had to adjust to in terms of the double diagnosis and then how she deals with and manages that.
“She was just saying the other day it just feels like a new step. She’s had the opportunity through the Celtic Challenge to manage through that [dealing with Type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease] and she is pretty confident in terms of now what her day looks like and what her training behaviours look like.
“What I’m excited about is that she brings a lot of energy. She’s a tough little player, plays above her weight, so giving her the opportunity to get out there against Wales is really exciting.”
- The other round one games see France play Italy at the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble (12.25pm UK time, live on BBC) and defending champions England face Ireland at Allianz Stadium Twickenham (2.25pm, live on BBC).
Alex Stewart is pictured with her parents in Cardiff after her Scotland debut in 2024
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