Top 5 players of 2025: Scotland Women

It has been a mixed bag on and off the field for Scotland’s women in 2025 with four Test wins and seven defeats from 11 games and events going on in the background.

On the field, when they did hit the heights, such as against Wales in the 38-8 Rugby World Cup opener in Salford in August, they were excellent and played with attacking flair.

There was also more nuggety wins over the Welsh and Ireland in the Six Nations and a hard-fought victory over Fiji at the World Cup which showed defensive strength and a strong mindset.

Two of the defeats came in World Cup warm up games so perhaps not too much can be read into those, but a low point of the five other defeats was a home loss to Italy in the Six Nations.

Since the World Cup, a new contracting model has been brought in by the governing body after making the last eight of the tournament, and only time will tell if it is the best way forward, while a new head coach is still to be appointed.

For all of the ups and downs of the last 12 months there have still been some excellent individual performers for Scotland in the calendar year and here are the top five…

Francesca McGhie (winger)
The 22-year-old has grown so much in confidence since this time last year, will go looking for the ball more and with her performances at the World Cup you have to believe the sky is the limit.

The winger played in nine of Scotland’s 11 Tests this year, scoring a try in the Six Nations game against Italy and then, with the clock in the red, scored one against Ireland to seal an important 26-19 win over the women in green.

However, she really hit the heights at the sport’s showpiece event in England to show off her skills to a wider audience scoring an amazing hat-trick against Wales in the opener of the World Cup, followed up by two more against Fiji and one against Canada.

Eight Test tries in nine games this year, 16 in 26 caps overall. Impressive.

Evie Gallagher (back row)
The back-rower, most at home at number eight in a Scotland jersey, played in nine Tests in 2025 and, along with McGhie and Emma Orr, must be top of the list when it comes to players from the country capable of making the inaugural British & Irish Lions squad in 2027.

The year did not start too well with a red card against Wales in the Six Nations, but after missing the France game she was back for Italy scoring a try as well as two against the same opposition in the World Cup warm up match.

The Bristol Bear is such a tireless worker on both sides of the ball and this year she seems to have added a bit more carrying power to her game.

She scored a World Cup try against Wales on her 25th birthday and then an absolute cracker versus Canada and is a talismanic figure for the Scots with 40 caps now under her belt.

Emma Orr (centre)
Like McGhie, because it seems like she has been around the team for so long, it is important to remember that she is still just 22.

The Biggar product now with Bristol Bears played in 10 of Scotland’s 11 Tests this year and scored tries against Wales, France, Ireland and Fiji.

Orr has the ability to read a game so well, which is important when defending or attacking in the 13 channel. The centre is a student of the game who is always making notes and has a drive to always want to get better.

When she is attacking she has a long stride and is hard for defenders to stop while she communicates well on the pitch and is vocal. A real leader for Scotland going forward.

Helen Nelson (fly-half)
The 31-year-old has been around the Scotland squad since 2016 and has always been a reliable performer at stand-off, but this year she seems to have added a few strings to her bow.

She looked more confident taking the ball to the line and creating attacks, especially during the World Cup period when Steve Shingler was the attack coach in the short term, plus her kicking game has improved a lot too.

The latter allowed Scotland to play different ways when conditions dictated and, during the year, Nelson became just the second Scottish female to make it over 200 points, currently on 244.

Nelson appeared in 10 of the 11 Tests in 2025 and now has 75 caps to put her joint ninth with team mate Lisa Thomson on Scotland women’s all-time list.

The Loughborough Lightning playmaker was also a very valued vice-captain to Rachel Malcolm this year on and off the pitch, their personalities complimenting each other well.

Rachel Malcolm (back row)
The skipper of Scotland is 34 now, but at the end of the World Cup she dismissed this correspondent’s question about international retirement straight off the bat, given the form she has been in, it is easy to see why.

She played in nine Tests this year to take her tally up to 61 caps and carried and defended well especially in the big games such as against Wales at the World Cup, really stepping up to make an impact.

Due to the fact that she is such a good leader, we can often talk about her as a captain and forget about the player, but the Scotland number six shirt definitely belongs to Malcolm.

As her team mates will tell you, she speaks to the squad so well, as well as to the media, something she reluctantly had to do before the World Cup regarding contract discussions and the timing of the announcement around head coach Bryan Easson’s departure.

Malcolm, who moved from Loughborough to Trailfinders in the summer, put her head above the parapet and backed her players to the hilt at a time when they were not being heard and that is the sign of a real leader.