Anya and her dad dare to dream

But there will be none whose rugby journey so far comes remotely close to 15-year-old prop Anya, who says, quietly and without any bluster: “My ultimate dream is to play for Scotland.”

What she and her family have experienced shows the power of sport to unite and underlines their indomitable spirit.

Anya and her dad Sviatoslav are Ukrainians, hailing from the city of Kryvyi Rih, some 200 miles south of Kyiv.

The city has a population of just over 600,000 and is renowned as the centre of mining and steel production in Ukraine.

Sviatoslav, 40, was a rugby coach and PE teacher in Ukraine, playing in the front-row for the Kryvyi Rih club.

Anya went along to the club to try rugby “but there weren’t really many girls playing,” so, instead, she opted for handball, as a goalkeeper, until she broke her leg.

Sviatoslav was a reservist in the Ukrainian army and when Russia invaded his country in 2022, he joined the Army full-time and was soon posted to the frontline, along with 14 of his clubmates. “One died in battle, one was captured and spent three years in a Russian prison, and another is still missing,” he recalled.

As with any father, Sviatoslav wanted to ensure his family’s safety.

“I had a contact at the Polytechnic Kyiv rugby club, who had links to the Zebre Parma club in Italy. Zebre Parma sent a bus to help evacuate families.

“My wife Olha, son Lev and daughter Anya, set out and spent three days travelling south-west to get close to the Hungarian border, so they could rendezvous with the bus,” he recounted.

“But the journey was tough.  It was all so confusing and when we got there, we had missed the bus,” Anya added, describing it like some routine traffic mishap.

Zebre Parma did send another bus, and the family made it safely to Italy.

Meanwhile, back on the frontline, Sviatoslav was involved in the fierce battle that raged as Ukraine sought to seize back the city of Kherson. Carrying around 20kg of body armour, he broke his spine in one Russian offensive and was found at the bottom of a flight of stairs. He was transferred to hospital for surgery.

In June 2022, thanks to another rugby contact who, at that time was in Guatemala, Anya, her mum and brother fulfilled the criteria, completed the necessary documentation and were able to move to Scotland as refugees.

And with Sviatoslav invalided out of the Army, he joined them in Edinburgh in January 2023.

As part of his recovery from spinal surgery, he was soon playing walking rugby with Murrayfield Wanderers and BATS in the capital, in addition to volunteering as a coach of primary school pupils at Wanderers.

Pictured: Sviatoslav in some retro Scotland gear he was sent by a friend in 2019

Sviatoslav also enrolled at Edinburgh College and hopes one day to become a PE teacher in Edinburgh, just as he was in Ukraine.

Anya enjoyed netball at St Peter’s Primary School in Morningside, but when she progressed to secondary school at Craigroyston High, her love of rugby was rekindled.

“School of Hard Knocks, a rugby charity, ran a course at the school for two years. I applied for it, and all my friends did too. I loved it!

“School of Hard Knocks also helped my dad as he took part in an employability course with them.

“I gained so much confidence from the rugby course at school, and I really wanted to do rugby and find a team,” Anya explained.

So, Anya joined the Murrayfield Wanderers club as a loosehead prop and has advanced to become part of Scottish Rugby’s Pathway system, making her debut for East under-16 against their Caledonia counterparts back in March.

“I love being part of a team. Everyone works together. You fight for each other.  Rugby is a sport where you can be yourself and be confident,” she said.

“I would love to play rugby professionally, and my ultimate dream is to play for Scotland.”

After everything Anya, Sviatoslav and their family have had to endure, then the power of rugby to ignite hope is inspiring.