Scottish Rugby has today announced professional contracts have been awarded to 28 players, as part of its continued investment into the women’s game.

The contracts run from December 2022 to November 2023, with the first year focusing on the skills and physical development of each individual player, who will be based at their existing clubs, while also providing players the opportunity to have greater time for off-field performance activities such as analysis and recovery.

As previously announced during the launch of the Women and Girls strategy earlier this year, Scottish Rugby is making an additional investments in the game. Part of this investment has been committed for contracting players to the women’s high-performance programme.

Current Scotland internationalists Rhona Lloyd, Lisa Thomson and Shona Campbell have accepted contracts with GB Sevens, with the trio competing on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series circuit for the 2022/23 season. Discussions will continue with GB Sevens around player availability for international games.

Scottish Rugby’s Director of High Performance, Jim Mallinder, said: “This is a landmark moment for the women’s performance programme and these contracts are a significant first step in a long-term journey towards professionalising the women’s game.

“Today’s announcement will provide a crucial boost ahead of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations championship and the launch of the new global women’s competition, WXV, as we aim to ensure that we can compete and challenge the top teams on the world stage.

“The next step will look at how we can create a sustainable and competitive playing environment in Scotland, while building our high-performance pathways to support our future internationalists and ensure new talent is identified and developed.”

Scotland Women Head Coach and Technical Lead, Bryan Easson, said: “Firstly, I’m delighted for the 28 players who have accepted professional contracts. The women’s game and calendar is continuously evolving and growing and we now have an annual programme that we can plan and prepare for properly, whilst also developing the players as individuals at their existing clubs.

“The ability for players to focus on rugby each week, while having sufficient enough time for recovery and analysis, is a real positive for us and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve going forward.”

Scotland Women captain, Rachel Malcolm, said: “This is a historic and incredibly exciting day for Scottish Rugby and the women’s programme. The opportunity to go professional is not one I thought I would have within my career and as a playing group we are determined to use this opportunity to take Scotland Women to a new level.”

Scottish Rugby professional contracted players 

Forwards (17)
Leah Bartlett
Christine Belisle
Sarah Bonar
Elliann Clarke
Lisa Cockburn
Evie Gallagher
Jade Konkel-Roberts
Rachel Malcolm
Elis Martin
Rachel McLachlan
Louise McMillan
Lyndsay O’Donnell
Lana Skeldon
Jodie Rettie
Emma Wassell
Molly Wright
Anne Young

Backs (11)
Coreen Grant
Sarah Law
Caity Mattinson
Jenny Maxwell
Mairi McDonald
Liz Musgrove
Helen Nelson
Emma Orr
Chloe Rollie
Meryl Smith
Evie Wills