Gary Heatly in Manchester
Alex Stewart has had some exciting moments in her fledgling Scotland career so far, but she says that Saturday’s win over Wales at the Women’s Rugby World Cup is now “top of the list”.
Prior to the 38-8 bonus point Pool B victory at the Salford Community Stadium in Manchester, the best memory for Corstorphine Cougars and Edinburgh Rugby back-row was her debut back in 2024 when they beat the same opponents in Cardiff during that year’s Six Nations.
But now cap number 14 is top of the tree – and given the way the game went and the last few months Stewart, 21, has had that is no surprise.
In April, midway through the Six Nations, she was diagnosed with diabetes just days after the doctors had also confirmed she has 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 diet helps control symptoms and prevents long-term complications from the condition.
She bravely spoke about that previously and she has had to make amendments to her life on and off the pitch with the support of her family, friends and Scotland medical staff.
However, she has dealt with everything that has been thrown at her admirably and, when she came on off the bench against Wales on the hour mark, she was excellent and brought energy to the party.
“I think there was a lot of emotion driving me in the game on Saturday and I think beating the Welsh in the World Cup has got to be the top of the list for me in a Scotland shirt so far,” she stated.
“To come off the bench with the team already in a great position, it made for a really exciting game to join. I felt like I could come off the bench and make an impact, with us already being ahead, so it felt like I could come on and do more damage. It was incredible, the crowd was amazing.
“I felt like there was lots of Scottish fans and all you could hear, all you could see, was blue.
“There were lots of travelling fans and I had family there which was really exciting. My granny and my grandma were there. It was so surreal.
“My granny’s actually Welsh, but she’s lived in Scotland for 50 years and she and my grandma loved being there with other family members.
“It was really special for my granny and grandma to come and watch me. They were definitely the first people that encouraged me to do well and pushed me in all aspects of my life when I was younger so I owe them a lot.
“It was really emotional that they came down and made all that effort.”
As well as being delighted to see her granny and grandma on the day, Stewart was also pleased to make a young West of Scotland girls’ player.
“Since I opened up about my diabetes diagnosis I have had lots of messages of support and lots of messages from people who are similar to me,” she explained.
“At the weekend there was a girl from the West of Scotland club and she was like ‘I’ve got type 1 diabetes too’ and asked me to have a photo with her and showed me her blood sugar monitor.
“She had clearly taken confidence to keep playing rugby as someone with type 1 diabetes after reading or hearing my story and that is really cool.”
The result against the Welsh now makes Scotland favourites to progress to the quarter-finals from Pool B behind likely group winners Canada. That would mean a probable knock-out tie with world number one side England on September 14.
However, there is a lot of rugby to be played before then and, after Fiji, there is a meeting with world number two Canada in Exeter on September 6.
The Scotland matchday 23 for Fiji is due to be named on Thursday.
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.
Alex Stewart is pictured – thanks to Scottish Rugby
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.