Scotland: meet the next generation hoping to make an impact

Scotland‘s new women’s head coach Sione Fukofuka is set to arrive in Edinburgh in the coming weeks and, with the Guinness Women’s Six Nations starting in April, he will be keen to run the rule over as many players as possible before the first wider training squad on his watch is named.

With a new coaching regime always comes the opportunity for uncapped players to force their way into things and with a number of front-liners who were at the World Cup a few months ago currently recovering from injuries, while the likes of Jade Konkel, Caity Mattinson and Lisa Cockburn having retired from international duty, that might be even more the case this time around.

For home-based Scottish players there is the added bonus that Fukofuka will see them playing in the flesh first because while Premiership Women’s Rugby and Elite 1 leagues in England and France take breaks in January, the Celtic Challenge continues.

To date in the six-team event that features Irish and Welsh sides, Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby have won one and lost one apiece and will be looking to kick on when they return to action between January 10 and the final in March.

So, if Fukofuka has managed to watch recordings of the games so far from the Scottish representatives in the competition, who may have impressed him when it comes to uncapped players?

Top of the six-player list this correspondent has put together has to be Glasgow’s co-captain Holland Bogan who is a second-row who can also play six.

When she missed out on playing rugby for a number of months early in 2025, the 20-year-old realised just how much the sport meant to her – and she is now very much making up for lost time.

Injured while on Celtic Challenge duties with Glasgow Warriors in February, a PCL and MCL knee injury ruled her out for seven months including 12 weeks in a brace.

However, in the summer she was handed a contract by Scottish Rugby and is one of the fully supported players currently. She is one of 11 – along with seven development players – that are based at Oriam on the outskirts of Edinburgh where Fukofuka is set to spend a lot of his time.

Since returning to play she has helped Stirling County win the Arnold Clark Premiership title, was influential in Glasgow’s 36-17 away win at Brython Thunder in Llanelli in December, scored two tries and was named Player of the Match by TV match summariser Sarah Law, the former Scotland cap, despite the Warriors losing 31-25 to Edinburgh at Hive Stadium on December 27.

Bogan is athletic, carries hard and will only get better by being around high quality players. 2026 could be a big year for her.

With the likes of Sarah Bonar and Emma Wassell currently injured, Natasha Logan is another second-rower who will be looking to take the next step and earn a Scotland cap over the next 12 months.

The 22-year-old Stirling County and Edinburgh University product had an excellent spell with Harlequins at the start of the season and played regularly for them in the PWR Cup.

She has since returned to Scotland and helped County win the Premiership before playing well for Edinburgh in their 34-7 loss to Wolfhounds in Dublin on December 20 and then the win over Glasgow seven days later.

Surprisingly, she is not among the 35 supported Scottish Rugby players named for this campaign, but as a nation that does not produce too many physical, agile specimens like ex-under-20 cap Logan, Fukofuka may well take a look at her.

Aila Ronald, the Edinburgh University hooker originally from the north-east of Scotland, has really had to bide her time but 2026 may be the year that she finally gets capped.

She has been in and around the full Scotland squad for quite some time now having impressed with the Under-20s, but just missed out on the World Cup squad as Lana Skeldon and Elis Martin were the number twos taken south of the border, while Molly Wright covered the front-row.

No doubt that will have been a setback for Ronald having been involved in the lengthy preparation camp, but she seems a real thinker on the game and is dynamic with ball in hand. She bagged a try versus Glasgow recently for Edinburgh and will want to keep motoring along.

There is no doubt that, when fit, Evie Gallagher is Scotland’s starting No.8 and one of the first names on the teamsheet. But with the retirement of the aforementioned Konkel, there are spaces in the wider squad for up-and-coming back-rows who can punch holes in defences.

Merryn Gunderson has previously told RugbyPass that “Jade Konkel was a massive idol for me growing up” and the Corstorphine Cougars and Edinburgh No.8 has a number of traits that Konkel has, as she carries hard and brings a physical edge to things that others do not.

Alongside fellow Scottish Rugby supported player Emily Coubrough, the Biggar RFC product currently with Edinburgh University and Glasgow and playing well, it will be fascinating to see how the two former Under-20 caps develop in the next 12 months, especially with increased training time available at Oriam.

Those are five uncapped forwards that Fukofuka may well cast his eye over then and there are a number of uncapped backs that are currently doing good things such as Hannah Walker, Cieron Bell (both Edinburgh), Nicole Flynn and Sky Phimister (both Glasgow).

However, it is Flynn and Phimister’s Glasgow team mate Ceitidh Ainsworth who is the focus here.

Sure, the young stand-off did not have her best game against Edinburgh when she was yellow carded then replaced, but she ran the backline nicely against Brython and her game management was excellent as Stirling won the Premiership. She is on a development support contract with the governing body.

With Meryl Smith coming back from long-term injury and Hannah Ramsay having been capped a few months ago, they will be looking to pressure long-time Scotland number 10 Helen Nelson going forward, but it would certainly be worth seeing Ainsworth in a wider squad as the Glasgow co-captain’s development in the last couple of years deserves that and you can never have enough playmakers in your ranks.

Only time will tell now if we see the names Bogan, Logan, Ronald, Gunderson, Coubrough and/or Ainsworth on the back of Scotland shirts in 2026, but opportunities for young players are there to be grabbed with both hands as a new era begins.