Gary Heatly in Manchester
Lochaber rugby player Ailsa Graham says she is so happy and “cannot believe the reaction” after she handed out over 200 special thistles that she made via yarn art to Scotland supporters and players on Saturday.
Graham was at the Salford Community Stadium in Manchester watching the Scotland versus Fiji Women’s Rugby World Cup Pool B match and she became one of the stars of the show pre-game as fans found her to pick up their thistles and she was also spoken to by the BBC and World Rugby’s content channels.
After the match, which Scotland won 29-15 with a bonus point to make sure of a quarter-final spot, she was then able to meet a lot of the players and hand two-try Rhona Lloyd her own special thistle.
“It was such a crazy and amazing day,” Graham, 30, said.
“People loved the thistles and I had loads of people coming up to me to get them. It’s honestly a bit hard to process how big – and how positive – the reaction has been.
“When I met Rhona Lloyd she said she hadn’t got a thistle when I sent a batch into the Scotland camp previously so I gave her one of the bunches from my hair and that was a great moment.
“It all started as such a small project, just me and some yarn and a crochet hook in my living room and now it is this big and I am just so happy.”
Scotland winger Lloyd said: “I think what Ailsa has done is amazing, the thistles look just great and it was good to meet her. The support we have had during this tournament so far has been incredible.”
So, how did Graham, who is now based in Fort William after growing up in England, come up with the idea?
“I watched rugby with my dad when I was growing up and really enjoyed it,” she explained.
“I had wanted to try playing for a while and joined my local women’s team Lochaber last summer.
“I had the idea of making the thistles after seeing the Red Roses launch their yarn art campaign for the World Cup.
“I enjoy both knitting and crochet so liked the idea, but as I’m Scottish I didn’t want to make anything English.
“Instead, I thought it would be nice to make some Scottish yarn art for me and my club team mates who I’m heading to the game with this weekend.
I then thought it would be nice to have enough to hand out to the crowd and try to make a big thing of it and give people something they could take home with them.
“I’ve had time for all this as I have been off work over the summer with a post-concussion syndrome which left me unable to work and exercise and really limited my normal day activities.
“Making the thistles gave me something positive to put my energy into and a project I could focus on while I recover as I really need to look after my mental health during the recovery period.”
Scotland are currently second in the pool behind Canada, who have also made it to the knock-out stages, and who top the section after three games will be decided when the two teams meet in Exeter on Saturday.
Second in the world Canada will be favourites in that one, but if sixth in the world Scotland can cause an upset then they would avoid tournament favourites England in the last eight and would play Australia or USA.
The Scotland squad is travelling to Exeter on Monday.
Scotland Women’s Rugby World Cup squad
Forwards: Leah Bartlett, Becky Boyd, Sarah Bonar, Elliann Clarke, Lisa Cockburn, Eva Donaldson, Evie Gallagher, Adelle Ferrie, Jade Konkel, Rachel Malcolm (C), Elis Martin, Rachel McLachlan, Molly Poolman, Lana Skeldon, Alex Stewart, Emma Wassell, Molly Wright, Anne Young.
Backs: Leia Brebner-Holden, Beth Blacklock, Rhea Clarke, Coreen Grant, Rhona Lloyd, Caity Mattinson, Francesca McGhie, Helen Nelson, Emma Orr, Hannah Ramsay, Chloe Rollie, Lisa Thomson, Hannah Walker, Evie Wills.
Ailsa Graham is pictured with Rhona Lloyd and some young fans
From August 7 until September 30, GH Media will be following the Scotland World Cup journey all of the way. We will be at all of the Scotland matches down south and will be bringing you all of the interviews and news from camp as well as taking a wider look at the tournament as a whole and its impact on the women’s game. Thanks to Quirky Chocolate and other supporters for allowing this content to happen and to readers for engaging with it.