How Scotland's uncapped quartet will add something 'a little different to the squad'

With any new campaign comes opportunity and when the Scotland squad meet up on Monday to begin their WXV Global Series preparations there will be four uncapped players at the Oriam training base looking to put their hands up for selection.

There was a lot to talk about when interim head coach Dave Butcher named his 32-strong training group ahead of the three September matches at Hive Stadium versus Canada on September 12, New Zealand on September 19 and Australia on September 26.

Scotland’s away WXV Global Series fixtures will take place against Australia on October 17 and October 23, but for now it is the trio of home matches that are the main focus and new faces Imogen Spence, Ceitidh Ainsworth, Nicole Flynn and Katie Buchanan will be looking to impress Butcher and his new assistant coaches Chris Laidlaw, Tom Luke and Robbie Fergusson in the coming weeks.

During an injury hit, one-win Guinness Women’s Six Nations earlier in the year, Emily Coubrough, Holland Bogan, Demi Swann, Rianna Darroch and Aicha Sutcliffe earned their first international caps and it will be interesting to see which one out of Spence, Ainsworth, Flynn and Buchanan pulls on the shirt next an becomes Scotland women’s player number 254.

Tighthead prop Spence of Glasgow Warriiors is still just 19, but is highly regarded by former front-rower Butcher and is in the squad to provide competition to Elliann Clarke and Molly Poolman in a key position.

The age-grade cap was in the wider squad for the Women’s Six Nations so has that block of training under her belt at this level already and she also turned out for the Under-21s during that period.

Butcher said about the former Lockerbie Academy pupil who has come through the ranks at Moffat, Biggar and Edinburgh University and is now aligned to Glasgow Warriors: “Imogen Spence was with us right through the Six Nations campaign, but never got minutes.

“In a late maturity position such as a tighthead she’s already showing signs of being able to hold her own with some of our national team players.

“We see her as an exciting player for the future and she’s someone that could be in fighting it out for that tighthead berth with an Elliann Clarke and Molly Pollman for the next seven or eight years.”

Spence is an academy contracted player with Scottish Rugby just now and so is scrum-half/stand-off Ainsworth.

The 22-year-old was in the wider Women’s Six Nations squad while playing for the Under-21s in April and May and she co-captained Glasgow Warriors during the Celtic Challenge alongside Holland Bogan last season.

In recent years she has been one of the standout players in Scottish club rugby as Stirling Country have picked up some silverware while her sister Ciorstaidh has represented the country in rugby league.

“I feel Ceitidh is definitely one for the future, she’s a fantastic rugby player,” Butcher said.

“She has played a lot at 10, but we feel like she’ll project to be a nine eventually and we just wanted to expose her to a national team environment as soon as possible.

“She got some exposure to that during the Six Nations and now she’s with us to learn more and she may get game time, I think she’s a super talented player.”

The third uncapped Glasgow Warrior in the squad is centre Nicole Flynn who is a Scottish Rugby ‘players supported in Scotland’ contracted talent this year.

The 20-year-old played for the under-21s earlier this year and she was just 17 when she scored two tries in the final to help Stirling County win the Premiership.

She has been on the Scotland radar for a while now and sat on the bench for the full team aged 18 versus France in the Six Nations of 2024 without getting on.

It is clear the talent and potential that Flynn, who has also played for Edinburgh University and Edinburgh Rugby over the years and who was with GB Sevens in Croatia recently, has and Butcher said: “Coming out of the Under-21s programme, she’s been training with the central programme over the summer and working alongside centres like Meryl Smith and others going forward will really help her, she really fits in nicely to the group.

“We want to expose these younger players to the national team environment and potentially get minutes for them and Ceitidh and Nicole definitely fit into that category.”

Last but not least, Buchanan is a former England Under-20 cap who qualifies to play for the Scots and the winger is keen to give it her best shot.

She turned 23 recently and has been a key part of the Exeter Chiefs set up for a while now having made her debut in September 2022.

The speedster was named the Chiefs’ young player of the year and supporters’ club player of the year in 2023/24 and Butcher explained: “She’s someone that we’ve been tracking for a little while now and she has said that she would like to be given the chance to represent Scotland.

“We watched her through the PWR season that ended before the summer and I think she’s someone that will really fit into the squad well.

“We’ve got a really strong back three, but obviously with Fran [McGhie] going through a recent shoulder operation and being out long-term there is a slot there.

“We already have a strong group of players so I’m looking forward to her coming in and adding something a little bit different to the squad.”