Cruikshank joins coaching team under Gallagher High Performance Academy

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Coach Claire Cruikshank during a Scotland Women's team run at Hive Stadium, on September 13, 2024, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

The fully immersive global development and leadership programme is dedicated to enhancing the prominence of female coaches as we approach Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025.

Cruikshank most recently took on the role as Head Coach for Scotland Women U20 team in the Summer Series in Parma, Italy, bringing her extensive coaching experience to the role.

In the previous summer of 2023, Cruikshank led the Scotland Futures, the previous iteration of the U20 programme, to Rome for a series of training matches with Italy and Ireland where the Scots secured a 21-12 victory against Ireland U20s and suffered a narrow 10-7 defeat to the hosts.

Cruikshank’s coaching resume also includes a tenure as Head Coach for the Swedish Women’s National Team and she took up a coaching role with Scotland Women during the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand as part of World Rugby’s coaching internship programme.

Earlier this year, Cruikshank, who is also the Head of Performance Ladies’ Rugby at Edinburgh University, guided Edinburgh Rugby to a strong second-place finish in the Celtic Challenge league standings.

On the announcement, Cruickshank said: “I’m thrilled to have been appointed as the coaching intern for Scotland Women.

“This opportunity will allow me to learn from the current coaching and management group and continue my development as a coach, while contributing to the squad’s preparation to defend their title.”

Commenting on the announcement, World Rugby Chief of Women’s Rugby, Sally Horrox said: “We are delighted to welcome the 11 coaches joining us for the next edition of this vital programme. The Gallagher High Performance Academy has been pivotal in advancing the careers of female rugby coaches, and it has been inspiring to follow the progress of the participants so far.

We know that one of the barriers to growing girls and women’s rugby is the lack of female coaches in the sport. The GHPA plays a critical role in helping us to address this.

“We set ourselves the ambitious goal of achieving 40% female coaches in the coaching teams at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. It is encouraging to see that we are on track to meet this target. This initiative reflects both our and Gallagher’s unwavering commitment to fostering diversity and striving for gender equity in rugby.”