Sarah Bonar relishing Scotland return after ‘rollercoaster’ year

Sarah Bonar is delighted to be back in a Scotland shirt after a “rollercoaster” 12 months with injury that left her wondering at times if she might ever play at the top level again.

Between the Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final against England in Bristol in September last year and Saturday’s WXV Global Series game with New Zealand just gone in Edinburgh, the second-row was dealing with a complex back issue.

Her only game time during that period came when she played 20 minutes off the bench for Harlequins at the end of last season and then had a run out for the Barbarians versus Wales in June.

And, indeed, such were the ups and downs during the last year that Bonar, now 32, “didn’t know whether a return was possible or not” to international rugby.

However, she is back now and earned cap number 52 off the bench as the Black Ferns won 66-14 at Hive Stadium.

“It’s been an absolute rollercoaster,” she admitted.

“For four years it has been a rollercoaster with various injuries let alone this one, but this one in particular has probably been the toughest and, at times, I didn’t know whether a return was possible or not.

“I’ve had recurring back issues for a significant part of my career now.

“At the World Cup, I was coming back from a broken foot to play at the tournament.

“From that operation to playing it was eight weeks and that took its toll and it ended up being my back that took the strain.

“In terms of the back injury, after the World Cup we tried to go a bit conservative. It didn’t work and I ended up needing an operation.

“Thankfully, touch wood, we’re in a better place off the back of it and the medical team at Scottish Rugby have been class and have got me back to match fitness.

“We’re back hopefully and hopefully can stay back for a wee while.

“I think the thought of playing for Scotland again is probably the only thing that kept me going through the rehab at times.

“It’s the moments that people don’t see that I missed the most: the changing room moments, the training sessions, just being in camp with the girls. Getting back to those moments definitely motivated me through the tough times.

“Playing for Scotland means the world, it means everything to me.”

Bonar has been a mainstay of the Scotland squad since 2016, but, as she mentioned, the former high-level rower from Aberdeen has had her fair share of injuries to contend with in that time.

There were a few bumps in the road in the early days and then she missed the 2023 Women’s Six Nations with a collarbone injury before returning to help the national team win the WXV 2 tournament in South Africa later that year.

She then started the Women’s Six Nations opener in 2024 in Wales, but went off with a shoulder injury and missed the rest of the competition with the aforementioned foot and back injuries coming since then.

Fit-again Bonar and Scotland are now preparing for Australia at the Hive on Saturday.

The sides are in similar places in the world rankings so it is a winnable game for Dave Butcher’s side if they get things right, but Scotland have won just one of seven Tests this year and one of their last nine overall.

“Defensively we need to get off the line against Australia,” Bonar stated.

“We need to stop them at source consistently and it’s about keeping that ball and playing smart with it.

“We need to build off our set piece and take opportunities when we can.

“We’ve had a lot of changes in management and coaches and it’s just about trying to get consistency within our performance. We’re building though and it’s starting to come.

“There were patches at the weekend where we were able to keep New Zealand out and when we held on to ball we were able to string some exciting phases of play together. We just need to be far more consistent.”

Meanwhile, interim head coach Butcher is delighted to have someone of Bonar’s experience back in the mix and he said: “We held her back for an extra week to make sure that she was fully fit.

“She’s been absolutely chomping at the bit for the last two weeks to play and she is a great, great person to have around the team.

“Sarah just brings a wealth of knowledge and energy and she did that when she came on against New Zealand.

“It’s great to have her back and we hope to have a few others back from injuries for Australia.

“It just helps the depth that we have, not only in the games, but it makes training more and more competitive for us.”