Ayr secured their first Arnold Clark Women’s National League win of the season at the weekend.
On Saturday they won 43-19 with a bonus point away at Dundee Valkyries with tries from Danielle McKenna (2), Amelia Mapson, Jade Courtney (2) and Robynn Gibson (2) with Catherine Shennan converting four of them.
Skipper Shennan said: “After a tough start to the season where we struggled to get continuity within our squad due to injuries and availability it was exciting to get a bigger squad to travel to Dundee in a game that we knew was a ‘must win’ for us.
“We worked really hard at training in the week leading into the game and had good numbers working hard under the guidance of our new head coach James Thomson.
“We went into the fixture with clear goals and I think we achieved them. The girls worked really hard on the park and I the effort and attitude was excellent while, when things got tough, everyone adapted.
“Dundee really brought a physical game to us and had some very strong ball carriers as well as some skilful backs that really made the job in hand harder.
“I feel that the girls have worked very hard to get here after a few tough weeks and it’s really lifted the team morale.”
Rachael Crawford, Rennie Guthrie-Dawber and Rachael Croniken scored Dundee’s tries in defeat with Guthrie-Dawber converting two of them.
Ayr are bottom in the six-team league while Dundee are fifth and top of the tree currently are West of Scotland.
On Sunday, they won away at third placed Greenock Wanderers 39-19 with a bonus point.
Wigtownshire are third, but on Saturday they lost out 31-22 at fourth placed Highland after a great match.
Information on the Women’s National League is here.
The Sarah Beaney Cup now takes over this coming weekend, the fixtures are here.
- In 40-minute training games at the weekend at the end of their week-long camp in L’Aquila in Italy, Scotland women’s U21 squad lost 38-0 to the hosts and then beat Wales 17-14.
Bethan Mathieson, Niamh Waters and Tamzin Rosie scored the tries versus Wales with Lucy MacRae converting Mathieson’s try.
Ayr and the Scotland under-21s are pictured
It is shaping up to be an exciting 2026/27 season for women’s rugby in Scotland and GH Media will be covering it in detail – if any companies are keen to support this content please send an email to gary@gh-media.co.uk