Some say that life begins at 30 and Molly Wright is now heading to her second Women’s Rugby World Cup since hitting the milestone age.
In 2022, then 31, the front-rower who qualifies for Scotland via residency was part of the squad that went to the big event in her homeland of New Zealand.
Fast forward three years and, now 34, Wright has had plenty thrown at her, but she has battled back to be part of the 32-strong Scottish group that will be travelling down south to the World Cup in England soon.
The World Cup is the pinnacle of anyone’s career and I’m lucky enough now to have been involved in two of them,” Wright said.
Ideally, I wanted to be a part of this 2025 event in whatever the role was going to be for the team.
Normally, New Zealand fans don’t really support other countries, but my family are probably Scotland women’s biggest fans.
“I’m proud of what I’ve been able to achieve and they support me all the way which is great.”
The things that have been thrown at Sale Sharks player Wright since the last World Cup include being out with an ACL injury between early 2023 and early 2024.
She returned just before last year’s Six Nations with Sale and was then involved in all of Scotland’s matches in the showpiece tournament.
Then in the May, post-Six Nations, she picked up another long-term injury in a league game that Sale won at Leicester Tigers.
She tore her hip flexor off her pelvis and was out until January of this year.
Thankfully, since then she has had a good run of rugby with club and country and the 24-capper, who can play prop and hooker, could have an important role to play at the World Cup.
And she is amazed by the growth of the women’s game in recent years ahead of what is set to be the biggest ever World Cup since they began in 1991.
“It’s skyrocketed,” said the player who moved to Dumfries via short stint in London in 2017 and then settled in Edinburgh for a number of years playing for Watsonians.
“The progress we’ve seen in the time I’ve been involved at this level of the game [around 2020 when she first trained with Scotland] has been rapid.
“There’s always been the interest in the sport, but I think we now have a platform where the sport can be marketed.
“It can be commercialised and there’s also access for girls and boys to see it all the time on prime time TV slots, not in hidden slots, but on main channels.
“In the newspapers and on the internet women’s rugby is big news now and I am excite to see how the coverage grows during the World Cup and continues to capture imaginations.”
The World Cup event runs from August 22 to September 27 and the Scotland pool matches are against Wales in Manchester on August 23, Fiji in Manchester on August 30 and Canada in Exeter on September 6.
The Scotland squad will next meet up in Edinburgh on Thursday before travelling to Manchester on Friday.
- The Celtic Challenge for 2025/26 will start on December 20 and feature a 10-round league season before semi-finals and a final – Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors are set to be representing Scotland versus Irish + Welsh teams with more info to come.
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.
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Molly Wright 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.
