Scotland’s 2023/24 season started when they played XVs versus Spain on September 30 last year and ended when Lisa Thomson helped Team GB beat Ireland at the women’s rugby sevens at the Olympics on July 30.
That is a 10-month season and while everyone, especially Thomson, is due a breather, the great news for women’s rugby supporters is that there is an amazing 12 months just around the corner.
The 2024/25 season internationally, two weeks after the Arnold Clark Premiership gets underway in Scotland, will get going on September 6 when Bryan Easson’s charges host Wales at Hive Stadium in a September Test.
They will then play Fiji on September 14 in a second September Test at the same venue before heading to South Africa to defend their WXV 2 title. At the same time WXV 1 will be in Canada, a country whom Scot Iain Monaghan just helped win silver in Paris as an assistant coach, and WXV 3 will be in Dubai.
That runs from late September into October and then, in March and April, will be the Women’s Six Nations. Other tournaments will also take place around the globe in the first half of 2025 at the top level.
All of that, after some warm-up games more than likely over the summer, will then lead into the showpiece Rugby World Cup 2025 held in England between August 22 and September 27. Scotland’s place there still needs to be rubberstamped, but will be after WXV 2.
Phew! What a year then and that is just the national XVs team. The domestic game will continue to grow the age-grade sides and Celtic Challenge outfits are set to get more exposure and we could well see Scots appearing on the SVNS world series.
Over 260,000 supporters watched women’s rugby over three days in the Stade de Frace at the Olympics, Scotland had their first ever sell-out for the England game earlier this year and American sevens star Ilona Maher has millions of followers on Instagram and on TikTok.
Women’s rugby is continuing to grown and the period between September 2024 and September 2025 is set to be very exciting…
Ilona Maher of USA is pictured in Paris as is Lisa Thomson supporting GB team mate Meg Jones, thanks to World Rugby for the images
This is the end of GH Media covering the Scots involved in sevens at the Olympics between July 27 and July 31