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Rhona Lloyd: Whales, team culture, and representing Scotland and Great Britain
Music has played a big part throughout Rhona Lloyd’s Scotland career to date and now, after reaching the 50-cap milestone, she wants her country to keep making positive noises in the world of women’s rugby going forward.
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The Scots marked the winger’s half-century in style by beating Italy 17-10 last Saturday in Parma to put them third in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations table with one round of fixtures to go.
Beat Ireland in Belfast this coming weekend and Scotland could finish third in the standings for the first time since 2005 and secure WXV 1 qualification and a spot at Rugby World Cup 2025.
A lot to focus on in the immediate future for Lloyd and co then, but this week she has taken time out to look back on her journey with Scotland that began as a 19-year-old back in 2016.
And whether it was naming the Scotland Sevens ‘band’ Rhona and the Whales while they were having an impromptu jam session while on tour in Hong Kong, buying a ukulele on that same trip or playing that ukulele in New Zealand at the Rugby World Cup in 2022 while sports scientist Fraser Menzies played the bagpipes as the squad sang Loch Lomond, music has never too far away from things.
Indeed, her teammates serenade her with ‘Rhona, Rhona, Rhona – their version of Ruby by the Kaiser Chiefs – a few days ago at her 50th cap presentation at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi with parents Lea and Robert watching on to keep the music theme going.
“I love rugby and I love music, it’s all a lot of fun,” Lloyd, now 27, said.
“We went to Hong Kong in 2019 as a Scotland Sevens squad to try and qualify for the World Series. There’s a band Noah and the Whale and we were playing chopsticks on our glasses, it was all a joke, but good fun.
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“The next day we walked past a music shop, I got a ukelele and some of the girls got maracas. Then we had to name the ‘band’ and I pushed for Rhona and the Whales.
“I’m not sure if everybody was happy with it, but the name stuck!
“From that day we referred to the sevens squad often as Rhona and the Whales and sometimes had a laugh with music when we were away on trips.
“Then when we [the XVs squad at WXV 2] were in South Africa last year we weren’t flying back until the Monday after the last game.
“A bunch of people were going to get their cap numbers tattooed. It was me and a lot of the younger girls, so our team manager [Ellen Dickson] said to me ‘Rhona make sure nobody comes back with a silly tattoo’.
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“Then we came back and she said ‘Oh it was just you!’ [because she had got a tattoo of a whale on her arm to mark Rhona and the Whales].
“Seriously though, culture to me is really important and that is something that I got from Scotland Sevens.
“We once came ninth in a World Series event for example when we had only met on the Tuesday and then competed from the Friday onwards. That is unheard of, but something that allowed us to do it and push though was our willingness to train hard and work hard for each other because of the bonds we had created.
“Culture has a big crossover with performance, so whether it is music or other things I just want everyone to enjoy being part of the group.
“I have so much fun playing rugby, it is a passion that has become my job, so enjoying the journey is a big thing for me.
“We have a social committee in the current Scotland Six Nations squad. Louise McMillan, Rachel McLachlan, Francesca McGhie and me we do extra things around camp to make sure that everyone is enjoying their team here and that everyone is connecting as teammates and friends off the pitch.
“We want this environment to be an enjoyable one and I think if you asked any player then they’d say that it is.
“That feeling off the pitch has helped us with our recent form on the pitch for sure.”
Lloyd, Scotland cap 192, first got introduced to rugby by international cap 136 Sarah Quick when the latter held a taster session at Tynecastle High School in Edinburgh.
From there, and with the promptings of teacher Bruce Aitchison and coach Eric Jones, Lloyd went on to play for Murrayfield Wanderers and was hooked.
Since then she has played for national age-grade teams, Edinburgh University, Loughborough Lightning, Les Lionnes du Stade Bordelais, the national sevens and XVs team and GB Sevens.
She is currently dual-contracted to Scottish Rugby and GB Sevens – she has hopes of making the Paris Olympics in a few months with the latter – and said: “Women’s rugby has moved on so far.
“My first Scotland cap was against England in 2016 [a 32-0 loss] and I got capped the same day as Lisa Thomson. We were so young and we were still playing for the under-20s. At that time the senior squad didn’t have a lot of depth, so you were very quickly put into it.
“The game was at Broadwood [in Cumbernauld], I would guestimate there was a maximum of 300 people there, we were the curtain-raiser for the Scotland under-20 men and I couldn’t tell you if there was a live stream – the way that the game has changed from then to now is absolutely massive.
“It was a huge honour to play for Scotland then and it’s still a huge honour now.
“I just feel so privileged that I’ve played during this period when women’s rugby has changed so much. We’ve seen professionalisation at the international level and for younger girls that are coming through now, it just looks so different for them.
“It does feel like women’s sport is exploding and I feel really lucky to be competing at this time.
“And with Scotland, things are so exciting. We have been happy with the recent wins over Wales and Italy, but our standards for ourselves are so much higher than they used to be and we know we can still play better which says a lot about where the squad is at right now.
“We’re in a very good place and it’s no secret that we want to keep pushing on to see how far we can get Scotland in the world rankings [they are now at a record high of number six].
“We want to be competing on the world stage and we are thinking about that World Cup next year.
“It’s been an incredible journey for me so far and I am excited by the future.”
Comments on RugbyPass
How on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
2 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
2 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
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