Time of transition: Scotland women's contracts explained

After the Women’s Rugby World Cup it felt very much like the end of an era for Scotland given the changes that were about to come – and now those changes are starting to take shape.

In October, Andy Rhys Jones was appointed by Scottish Rugby as their first ever head of women’s performance and pathways and he will be moving north from PWR club Harlequins in January.

Soon after his appointment was announced, Gemma Fay, who was already employed by the governing body, was named as their first ever managing director of women’s rugby, reflecting a “long-term commitment to growing and professionalising the women’s and girls’ game in Scotland”.

With head coach Bryan Easson, assistant coach Tyrone Holmes and short-term assistant coaches Steve Shingler and Ross Miller having left their roles after the squad reached the last eight at the showpiece event, Scottish Rugby still have to appoint a new head coach and two assistants.

While that process is still ongoing, late last week the governing body announced the 35 players who are receiving financial support for the 2025/26 season.

Of those, 28 are getting full support with seven on development contracts. And, of the 28 who are fully supported – with 17 based in the PWR or in France and 11 in Scotland – 21 were at the World Cup.

The players from the World Cup squad who are being fully supported are Chloe Rollie (Toulon), Emma Wassell, Lisa Thomson, Rachel Malcolm, Francesca McGhie (all Ealing Trailfinders), Emma Orr, Evie Gallagher, Elliann Clarke, Lana Skeldon (all Bristol Bears), Helen Nelson, Leia Brebner-Holden, Elis Martin, Anne Young (all Loughborough Lightning), Sarah Bonar (Harlequins), Rachel McLachlan (Montpellier) and Rhona Lloyd (Sale Sharks).

The players from the World Cup squad who play their rugby in Scotland and are being fully supported are Alex Stewart, Hannah Walker (both University of Edinburgh), Molly Poolman, Hannah Ramsay (both Watsonians) and Adelle Ferrie (Corstorphine Cougars).

The likes of Bristol Bears’ second-row Hollie Cunningham and Loughborough back three player Lucia Scott, who both missed the World Cup due to injury, may feel aggrieved to miss out, but Meryl Smith, who also missed the World Cup, is fully supported.

The Bristol playmaker, who made her Scotland debut in 2022 and was at the World Cup later that year in New Zealand, has 22 caps to her name, but had an operation to deal with a serious ACL injury picked up at a WXV 2 event in Australia in late 2024 and has yet to return to playing.

Those playing in Scotland being fully supported who were not at the World Cup are Aila Ronald, Nicole Flynn, Emily Coubrough (all University of Edinburgh), Emily Norval, Holland Bogan (both Stirling County) and Merryn Gunderson (Corstorphine Cougars).

All six of them are uncapped with hooker Ronald having been around the full Scotland squad the most and centre/back three player Flynn having been an unused sub once.

They have all earned Scotland under-20 caps at some stage in the last few years and are being supported in their training via a new centralised programme based out of the Oriam High Performance Centre on the outskirts of the capital and will represent Edinburgh Rugby or Glasgow Warriors in the upcoming Celtic Challenge competition.

So, who are the players who were part of the World Cup campaign who have missed out on financial support?

Well, we already knew that Harlequins captain Jade Konkel was stepping back from the international fold while Lisa Cockburn and Caity Mattinson have retired from the top level of the game completely, but forwards Leah Bartlett, Eva Donaldson, Molly Wright (all Sale Sharks) and Becky Boyd (Loughborough Lightning), plus backs Beth Blacklock (Saracens), Rhea Clarke (Bristol Bears), Coreen Grant (Harlequins) and Evie Wills (Sale Sharks) are not on the list.

Loughborough tighthead prop Christine Belisle, a late call up for the England quarter-final defeat, is also not on the list.

Of those 12 players perhaps the most surprising ones to have missed out are Bartlett and Grant.

Since 2020, loosehead prop Bartlett has made 49 appearances for Scotland and is still just 27 while Grant, also 27, is a winger that can really make things happen, although has been hampered by injuries which came at a time of form from the likes of Francesa McGhie and Rhona Lloyd.

Moving forward, the 17 England/France based players will be mainly at their clubs while the 11 fully supported players in Scotland will be joined at times during the week by the players on development support: Poppy Mellanby, Poppy Fletcher, Imogen Spence (all University of Edinburgh), Megan Hyland (Heriot’s), Ceitidh Ainsworth, Sky Phimister (both Stirling County) and Talei Tawake (Watsonians).

Again, all of these players are recent under-20 caps and it is clear that Scottish Rugby want more players based north of the border and for youth to come through in what they say is a “transitional year and marks the start of the new Rugby World Cup 2029 performance cycle”.

A further 15 emerging players will have day-to-day access to this high-performance programme meaning that 50 players are being supported by the governing body in some way, although there is no financial element for the emerging players and they have not been named as yet.

It should also be noted that players selected for the national team going forward will be remunerated separately through the ‘National Team Agreement’ and this is in addition to any Scottish Rugby support they may receive.

This means players, regardless of whether they are supported by Scottish Rugby or not, are paid for the time in camp preparing for Test matches and match fees if selected to play.

Only time will tell whether this new model is the right one to broaden the base of Scottish female rugby talent and drive the national team forward as they aim to improve on their current position of number six in the world in an ever-improving international playing field.

Scottish Rugby chief executive Alex Williamson, performance director David Nucifora and managing director of women’s rugby Gemma Fay clearly believe this is the right route while others remain unconvinced – the proof will be in the pudding…