Anyone who has been at a Scotland Women’s game in the last couple of years will know that the squad are inspiring the next generation.
Take last Saturday for example when a record home tournament crowd of 5,601 was at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh to see the match versus France in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
The number of youngsters there – girls and boys – there to watch the 15-5 tight defeat and then meet the players afterwards for autographs and selfies was brilliant to see.
And the rise of the national team and the publicity around the professional contracts and the recent seven game record winning run amongst other things has also got more young girls playing the game.
The Strathendrick RFC under-12s girls squad had an amazing experience on their tour to Cardiff in late March when they played some games of their own and then watched Scotland win at Cardiff Arms Park in Six Nations round one.
Tyler Stevenson from Strathendrick said: “Our under-12 team had five players last year at the first match in Cartha. This year we have grown to 16 players and have been regularly playing self-organised fixtures with other clubs across Scotland.
“Our fixtures in Cardiff were against the Cardiff Storm and Newport Knights at the Cardiff University playing fields. The games were very close with excellent attack, defence and support play from all of the teams involved.
“The matches were at 11am on the Saturday until 12.30pm. We had arrived in Cardiff on the Friday night and were there until the Sunday with 15 players, three coaches and eight parents.
“I highly recommend the Cardiff Storm and Newport Knights clubs to anyone considering a tour to Wales, they are all round great clubs, competitors and hosts.
“The girls also attended the women’s match to support the team to victory.
“What a game it was, undoubtedly the girls could be heard across the stadium!
“The girls were incredibly active during the game, regularly chanting ‘Scotland’ which could be heard during the BBC TV coverage.
“The girls were invited to join Welsh clubs at half-time to walk around the pitch. On the TV coverage, the girls can be seen behind the pundits during that walk around.
“A massive thank you to the five Scotland players who came to see our girls after the match. They were Molly Wright, Emma Wassell, Rhona Lloyd, Emma Orr, and Meryl Smith while the girls also saw other players as they walked around after the 20-18 win too.”
Thanks to Scottish Rugby/SNS for the main image of Emma Orr with Strathendrick players in Cardiff and to Strathendrick RFC for the image from their matches
During the Guinness Women’s Six Nations period through to the end of April, GH Media will be covering all aspects of women’s rugby in Scotland via reports, features and interviews…
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