Gary Heatly in Manchester
All the parents and families of the Scotland players who are at the Women’s Rugby World Cup are bursting with pride just now.
And one dad has even gone about getting a special song in place for the squad.
Scotland take on Wales in their Pool B opener at the Salford Community Stadium in Manchester on Saturday (2.45pm, live on the BBC).
Yon Golden Dawn, recorded by Claire Hastings and all-female ensemble Ban-Laoch – which in Gaelic means ‘Female Warrior’ – is more than an anthem for women’s rugby, it’s a heartfelt tribute to Eva Donaldson, her team mates and the sacrifices behind their rise to this level.
Ray Donaldson, Eva’s dad, has secretly been working on the project for months leading into the big England-wide event with his brother Ian.
Drawing inspiration from the 24-year-old second-row’s first games at Stirling County, he set out to create something enduring.
“The song came out on Friday morning,” Eva, who is on the bench for the Wales match and recently joined Sale Sharks, explained after the captain’s run on Friday.
“It was a bit of a surprise to me when I first heard about it. It was something my dad was sort of working on in the background with a few of my Stirling friends [Evie Wills, Evie Gallagher, Elliann and Rhea Clarke] as well that are in this Scotland team.
“And then it got more and more serious as he played around with it.
“Now here we are with it on the internet for everyone to listen to. It’s been on the bus this morning, it’s been on while we’ve been training, we have been listening to it all day.
“So that’s been really fun, really nice. And it’s really inspiring us just that extra bit.
“When I first heard it, I was actually like ‘wow, okay, I am pleasantly surprised’! My dad does have weird and wacky ideas sometimes, but the song is great and I was really pleased with it.”
At the core of Yon Golden Dawn are lyrics that echo the determination the team has to inspire and perform on the global stage: ‘Oh let them see what she can be’ and ‘The day that counts is now’.
For Eva, those words resonate deeply.
“Music means so much to this squad, especially Scottish music,” she added.
“To have this song that’s about us, about our team and one that isn’t just a made up song that we sing on the bus and instead it’s one our fans can listen to is special. It’s so sentimental.
“The lyrics, especially ‘Oh let them see what she can be’, that just sums us up. We are so driven by inspiring the next generation. That’s one of the biggest motivations for us in the Scotland shirt.”
The tournament in England runs from August 22 to September 27 and the Scotland group stage matches are against Wales on Saturday, Fiji in Manchester on August 30 and Canada in Exeter on September 6.
The top two from each pool will make it through to the last eight in the 16-team event with a quarter-final spot definitely achievable for the Scots.
Scotland squad to play Wales: Chloe Rollie; Rhona Lloyd, Emma Orr, Lisa Thomson, Francesca McGhie; Helen Nelson, Leia Brebner-Holden; Leah Bartlett, Lana Skeldon, Elliann Clarke, Emma Wassell, Sarah Bonar, Rachel Malcolm (C), Rachel McLachlan, Evie Gallagher. Subs: Elis Martin, Molly Wright, Lisa Cockburn, Jade Konkel, Eva Donaldson, Alex Stewart, Caity Mattinson, Beth Blacklock.
The Wales matchday 23 is here.
Eva Donaldson is pictured – thanks to Bryan Robertson
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.