The Caithness product Tamzin Rosie enjoyed getting a taste of life in the Celtic Challenge with Edinburgh Rugby and hopes to use the experience gained to kick on in the future.
Rosie, the now 18-year-old scrum-half who is studying podiatry at Queen Margaret University in Musselburgh near the capital, first took up the game aged seven in the Caithness Minis.
“A rugby development officer from the club came into our school,” Rosie recounts.
“I really enjoyed the rugby taster session we did so I went along to the club one weekend and weekend and kept on going.
“I played through the Mini section with the boys and then when I turned 12 I started playing in the girls’ section with the under-15 team. It was quite a big jump up at that age and I didn’t know anybody, but it was quite exciting and the club has always really worked hard on the girls’ section.
Just playing with loads of different girls of different ages helped me learn quickly as I went through the early years of senior school and rugby became my main sport despite having played lots of others growing up too.
“I always loved running past people in attack and making tackles in defence and I still do!”
The team spirit at Caithness was also something that Rosie loved moving up through the levels at Millbank in Thurso and after the under-15s and under-18s she got dispensation to play for the Caithness senior women’s team the Krakens aged 17.
“Like moving from the Minis to the under-15s, that was another big jump, but all the senior players were all really, really welcoming and I just had to get used to the physicality of playing against bigger and stronger opponents,” she explained.
“I played a number of games for the Krakens at the start of the 2024-25 season before Scotland under-18 trials, training and A trip to the age-grade Six Nations Festival at Wellington College in England took up a lot of my time.
“The Six Nations Festival was good as we got to play against different countries and styles of play and as a scrum-half that was good.”
After school, a move last summer came for Rosie to Edinburgh for her studies and more rugby.
She enjoyed playing some Arnold Clark Premiership matches for Heriot’s before Christmas and has recently turned out for them in the Sarah Beaney Cup.
In between those two competitions she was called up to be part of the wider Edinburgh Rugby squad for the Celtic Challenge which also involves Glasgow Warriors and Welsh and Irish teams.
“I was definitely not expecting that call up,” she said.
“Obviously it’s something I really wanted to do because I had watched the girls play for the last couple of years. It’s been a thing I’ve thought about for the future, but it was definitely not on my bucket list for this year.
“There were so many experienced players in the environment including some internationalists and I just tried to soak up as much information as I could and learn as much as I could.
“At the start of the competition back in December and into January I was involved in round two and three of action against Glasgow and against the Wolfhounds and it was a brilliant experience although I was quite nervous before the Glasgow game because my family were down watching and it was a big game.
“The growth of women’s rugby is so exciting. When I started at Caithness there were not a lot of girls playing, but now there are lots of opportunities for girls in the game which is great to see.”
- Uncapped loosehead prop Demi Swann of Exeter Chiefs has replaced the injured Anne Young in the Scotland Women’s Six Nations squad. Gemma Bell previously replaced back-row Evie Gallagher.
Tamzin Rosie is pictured – thanks to Edinburgh Rugby
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