Check Mates In Concurrent World Competitions

With just ten days to go before Scotland Women set off to the Rugby World Cup, the squad welcomed a visitor to training who will also be representing Scotland on the world stage at the same time. Stephen Hilton, from Greenock, will be competing at the IBCA World Chess Championships for Blind and Visually Impaired in Belgrade during the last week in August and Scotland Women captain, Lynne Reid, was delighted to present him with a Scotland top to sport during the event.    Said Stephen: Just like the Women’s Rugby World Cup, the chess world championships are held every four years and this will be the second time I’ve taken part. For rugby players, I’d imagine the dream fixture would be against the All Blacks – for chess players, the dream match is against Russia and I’ve been lucky enough to play them at world championship level. It was the most intense match I’ve ever played in my life, though! Having followed their qualification games and recent match results, Stephen is looking forward to keeping up to date with Scotland Women’s progress during some equally intense World Cup games later this month. I may not be able to follow the games live but I will be able to keep up to date through the web site. I have to use a device called a screen reader which reads the web pages out loud to me. A firm rugby fan, Stephen says there is one rugby voice he is already missing, however. For me, in my situation, Bill McLaren was the best of all commentators, whatever the sport. I don’t want to hear a match report in a cold, practical tone or from someone who is biased; Bill was completely impartial and his commentary was the next best thing to actually being there. As Stephen and Lynne wish each other the best of luck in their respective world cup and world championship events, Stephen has a good luck message for the squad: The Women’s Rugby World Cup in Surrey runs from 16 August to 5 September. Scotland’s second match, against France on 24 August, will be shown live on SKY Sports and streamed live on the IRB web site. Scotland Women Rugby World Cup squadAlison Macdonald (RHC Cougars) Beth Dickens (Murrayfield Wanderers) Celia Hawthorn (Edinburgh University) Donna Kennedy (Worcester) Erin Kerr (London Wasps) Gillian McCord (RHC Cougars) Heather Lockhart (Hillhead Jordanhill) Katy Green (Murrayfield Wanderers) Keri Holdsworth (Watsonians) Lindsay Wheeler (Darlington Mowden Sharks) Louise Dalgliesh (RHC Cougars) Louise Moffat (Murrayfield Wanderers) Lucy Millard (Team Northumbria) Lynne Reid (RHC Cougars) Lynsey Douglas (London Wasps) Nicola Halfpenny (Melrose) Rosalind Murphy (Edinburgh University) Ruth Slaven (Murrayfield Wanderers) Sarah Gill (Murrayfield Wanderers) Sarah-Louise Walker (Watsonians) Stephanie Johnston (Hillhead Jordanhill) Susannah Brown (Richmond) Suzi Newton (Team Northumbria) Tess Forsberg (Murrayfield Wanderers) Tanya Griffith (RHC Cougars) Veronica Fitzpatrick (RHC Cougars) SCOTLAND WOMEN RUGBY WORLD CUP SCHEDULE Pool C France Canada Sweden Friday 20 August Canada v Scotland (kick-off: 12noon) Tuesday 24 August France v Scotland (kick-off: 2pm) Live on SKY Sports and the IRB web siteSaturday 28 August Scotland v Sweden (kick-off: 12noon) All Pool games will be played at Surrey Sports Park. Rugby fans who buy tickets for the WRWC 2010 will automatically be put onto a ticketing information list for the Rugby World Cup in 2015 to be hosted in England.  For more information on tickets, please go to: www.rwcwomens.com