Sky Phimister: 'All I can do is keep putting in performances for Glasgow'

As a youngster Sky Phimister enjoyed rock climbing and now, aged 21, she is enjoying climbing up the try scoring charts and has a Scotland rugby cap in her sights.

Whenever a player comes back from injury. they are never quite sure how long it will take them to return to 100 per cent. But, having been out from early September until late November with a foot issue, the winger has hit the ground running since.

On November 29 she scored a try in her comeback match as club side Stirling County won 40-15 at Watsonians and completed an unbeaten regular Arnold Clark Women’s Premiership season.

Then, on December 13, on a wet and windy day at home ground Bridgehaugh she bagged a dazzling four tries and was named Player of the Match as Stirling beat Watsonians 39-12 in the Premiership Grand Final.

She has since continued that red hot form with Glasgow Warriors in the first three rounds of the Celtic Challenge, bagging two tries in the win over Brython Thunder and one apiece in losses to Edinburgh Rugby and Gwalia Lightning.

So, it’s an impressive nine tries in five games. Phimister, who has a development support contract with Scottish Rugby this season, is feeling as confident in her own game as she ever has.

“Scoring the five tries in two matches for Stirling put my mind at ease a bit heading into the Celtic Challenge and I have just tried to take that confidence forward with me,” Phimister, who is currently completing the fourth and final year of a sports studies degree at Stirling University, said.

“I was a bit worried about the fact that I’d only played two games going into the Celtic Challenge despite the tries for County giving me some momentum, but after the first Glasgow game in Wales against Brython when I scored two tries and we won 36-17 with a bonus point for our first ever away victory I was feeling pretty chilled out and good within myself.

“Over the years I have always been a pretty fast runner, but things rugby-wise have changed so much since a few years ago (2022/23) when I was just coming through with Stirling and with the Thistles (the original Scottish team in the Celtic Challenge).

“I was still learning about rugby then, but I have been involved in lots of different environments since then and have tried to keep learning all the time.

“Recently I have been working on getting myself involved in games more, I have been learning how to play full-back as well as wing, I have focused on defensive duties and I have put a lot more muscle on.

“As a result, I am feeling good in my rugby right now and enjoying the expansive game Glasgow are looking to play. I feel like I am able to make metres with the ball every time I get it in my hands – whereas I maybe didn’t have that confidence in myself previously.”

Phimister spent the first 10 years of her life in Aberdeen before started her rugby journey with the touch rugby side at Armadale Academy after moving to West Lothian.

She then began playing for local club Livingston and has since represented Edinburgh Harlequins, Scotland Under-18, Corstorphine, Stirling County, Scotland Futures, the Thistles, Glasgow Warriors and Scotland Under-20.

Prior to WXV 2 in 2024, she was also called in to train with the full Scotland squad. That time she was only there for experience, but now she hopes that she might earn a call up to the squad ‘proper’ in 2026.

“I’d love to get into the Scotland setup and learn from the more experienced players who play down south in PWR, as well as the ones who play in France and those who play up here,” the player, whose mother Sheila Tett takes great photos of all levels of Scottish women’s rugby, stated.

“Scotland is definitely on my mind, but all I can do is keep putting in performances for Glasgow and hope that they (new head coach Sione Fukofuka and new senior assistant coach Ioan Cunningham) are watching from afar.”

Phimister looks set for an exciting career in rugby all being well in the coming years then, but could she have perhaps had a career in rock climbing?

“I started rock climbing when I was living up in Aberdeen aged about four after I had seen my brother giving it a go,” Phimister, who was also a keen gymnast growing up, explained.

“It seemed so weird and different to other activities I’d tried and I really liked Spiderman when I was a young kid.

“In fact, I was a bit obsessed with Spiderman at the time and I thought ‘I get to be like Spiderman if I do climbing’ so that was me kind of hooked.

“When we were up in Aberdeen we were doing climbing at a place called Transition Extreme and when we moved down to West Lothian I kept doing it at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena at Ratho.

“About the time that the pandemic came around I stopped because it became harder to do it and also my rugby schedule was starting to get a bit busier. Rock climbing was such a cool thing to do looking back on it, but rugby is my ‘thing’ now and I could not be happier.”

In-form Phimister is set to next be in action on Sunday when the Warriors are away to Clovers in Round 4 of the 2025/26 Celtic Challenge season.