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Scottish Rugby announce 35 contracts for players in post Bryan Easson era
By Gary Heatly
Scottish Rugby performance director David Nucifora says that delivering the news to 74-capper Jade Konkel that she was not going to receive a new contract post-Women’s Rugby World Cup was “handled the best way possible”.
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And he believes that there “is a level of respect” between the governing body and members of the national squad despite inferences to the contrary having come from some in the latter group recently.
Following Scotland’s quarter-final loss to England at the showpiece event on September 14th, 31-year-old Harlequins back-rower Konkel, who had announced her upcoming international retirement two days earlier, did not hold back in the media mix zone in Bristol when speaking to members of the press.
Before the tournament, skipper Rachel Malcolm had said that the build-up had been “very disruptive”.
That was due to the timing of the news that head coach Bryan Easson was leaving post-event dropping in July and contract negotiations being tricky between players and the governing body right up until they departed for England.
“They [Scottish Rugby] made our build-up to this really challenging, mentally and emotionally,” Konkel said at Ashton Gate.
“I myself wasn’t offered a contract and I want to finish on my terms. If I could play longer, I’d have loved to have played longer.
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“I’ve come off the back of an incredible ‘Quins season, getting player of the year. I feel I’ve got a lot to give in my performances.
“It’s a business at the end of the day, but the thing that doesn’t sit well with me was the fact that it was a six-minute conversation [to tell her she would not be contracted going forward] after 13 years of service.”
Asked at the time if she had a message for Scottish Rugby, Konkel said: “Respect us. Know that this is a programme that we pour our life into.”
In reply, speaking on Thursday morning as the governing body announced their new-look annual contracting model for the 2025/26 season for the women’s game, Nucifora said: “I don’t know what the right length of time is to tell someone they’re not receiving a contract, whether it’s seven minutes or 10 minutes.
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“There’s a way of doing it and we felt it was handled the best way possible. That’s professional sport, there’s disappointment all the time.
“When the players are told whether they have contracts or not, they’re not long conversations.
“Once you hear there is a negative response there’s not a lot of value in trying to have any type of long conversation about why. Contracting is different from selection and there’s a lot of different things that come into play regarding making the decisions and where the players fit into either a short, medium or long-term view on the game.
“Each one of those decisions is different for all the players. You don’t tend to go through that explanation with them at the time. Over time, absolutely [you do explain] and there’s been multiple different conversations/communications that have happened.”
When asked whether he personally had spoken to Konkel, who had been in and around the Scotland set up since 2012, made here debut in 2013 and was made the first fully professional Scottish female player in 2016, since the World Cup exit, Nucifora said: “I personally haven’t but other people [from the Scottish Rugby performance department] have.”
Scottish Rugby CEO Alex Williamson added: “Obviously Jade Konkel is a legend of the Scottish game and I’m sure a future Hall of Famer, but clearly the conversations when you’re telling someone something they don’t want or hope to hear is challenging.
“None of us enter into these conversations with a view that we want to be causal about the emotions of any individual.
“When we need to make decisions for the advancement of the game for all of the girls and women who are playing rugby in Scotland right now, there are challenging conversations and disappointed athletes, but we need to reflect on the benefits and positives that are coming going forward.”
In terms of the positives that Williamson mentions, 28 players – including 22 from the World Cup squad – have been awarded full contracts for the 2025/26 season with 17 of these based with PWR or French clubs and 11 based in Scotland and leading the way with Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors in the Celtic Challenge.
There are also seven Scotland-based players on development contracts who are receiving some money and 35 contracted players in total is more than many thought was going to be the case.
A further 15 emerging players will have day to day access to the high performance programme in Scotland on an amateur basis this season meaning that 50 female players are currently being supported by Scottish Rugby in some shape or form as the post-Bryan Easson era begins.
The players based in Scotland will be supported through a new centralised programme at the Oriam High Performance Centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
The selection model for Scotland playing in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations and global WXV competitions remains the same as before in that players can be selected regardless of their contract status with all selected players remunerated for their time and appearances through the separate ‘National Team Agreement’.
Financial figures in terms of the contracts were not forthcoming, but Williamson said the new model brings about “additional investment in women’s rugby” and that the names of the players involved will be released in due course.
In terms of coaching and other appointments, Nucifora is currently working hard to secure a new national team coach and hopes to have them in post “over the next couple of months”.
The governing body will also be appointing two new national team assistant coaches and are creating two new off field roles in the shape of a head of women’s high performance pathways and a managing director of women’s rugby.
Williamson concluded: “The first ever managing director of women’s rugby will sit in the Scottish Rugby leadership team and will be the one driving strategy, commercialisation and our impact on the international game.
“These are exciting times on and off the pitch and the performances of Scotland at the Women’s Rugby World Cup have undoubtedly given us a strong platform to move into the next phase of our high performance programme.”
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