What they said

Head Coach, Claire Cruikshank, said: “We are excited to get our Women’s Summer Series campaign off the ground on Thursday.

“Every single player – not just the matchday 23 – has trained well over the past few months to get us to this point and we’re looking forward to testing ourselves with this initial opportunity against Italy.

“Whilst we played against Italy last year in our Tri-Nations experience, this will be a new challenge for the group, but one we are ready to face head-on.”

The team

The stats

• Merryn Gunderson made 97 tackles in seven appearances during the Celtic Challenge for Edinburgh Rugby, missing only three. She also made 264 metres during the competition.
• Lucy MacRae won the most number of turnovers for Glasgow Warriors during the Celtic Challenge, making seven.
• In July 2023, Scotland Futures – the U20+ programme for female talent – travelled to Rome to play against Italy at Stadio Tommaso Fattori in L’Aquila. The Scots fell short by just three points to Italy U20, with a full-time score of 10-7. Some 12 of the players featured in that tour are now involved in Scotland Women U20.