Getting to know Anne Young

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 12: Anne Young is pictured during the 2022/23 Scotland Women's Headshot session at BT Murrayfield, on September 12, 2022, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Anne Young(Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

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Describe the Six Nations in three words.

I’d say fun, competitive and opportunity.

Which Six Nations team do you most look forward to playing against and why?

I think maybe Italy or Ireland but I think I’m going to say Ireland just because it’s always a very close competition and I feel like we play some of our best rugby against them. I think they bring out the best in us. Playing Ireland at home is also really exciting. I’ve got some really good memories of playing Ireland at home.

What’s your favourite Six Nations memory?

I haven’t played loads of Six Nations games yet but I think following my last answer, beating Ireland at home (in 2023). We’d just won our last few games, we had a record crowd at that match (which has since gone on to be beaten) and it was the start of our record win streak.

I think from a fan perspective, watching the men’s team come back to draw against England in 2019. I remember watching that at home with my dad and he was physically shaking. It was so funny because when he watches me play he is normally so calm but he could barely sit down. It was such a crazy game!

What’s your favourite camp tradition during tournament time with the squad?

I am an avid member of the Scotland Women card club, I am firmly in that cult. Over the last few tournaments playing cards has become a massive part of our down time and how we decompress. It can just be an hour or two where we can spend time together and switch off from rugby. We play it all the time – whenever there is a spare minute! We only play one game, which is ‘Gin’ and Elis brought it over from when she was a DPM Sharks (former PWR team) and it really became bedded into what we do in 2023 when we went to South Africa for WXV2.

Coffee is another big thing for us, we love getting a nice coffee. Patina is a big hit for us, it’s close to the Oriam so it’s great.

I also think that some of the stuff we do incorporating a ceilidh dance into a warm up is really cool. There are some people in the team who maybe didn’t grow up doing it at school and in PE lessons, so it’s great to teach them about it. It’s a nice tradition.

Another tradition we have is our forwards gym session, we always have great playlists on and we sort of take it in turns to pick the music. It’s just a great vibe and really helps those morning gym sessions. I’d say the best playlists are from Elis (Martin) or CB (Christine Belisle), and they’re very good at taking requests. I’m maybe bias because we share very similar music taste, but they get rave reviews from everyone.

If you could play any other position, what would it be and why?

I’d quite like to be a distributing 10. I just want to catch and pass, maybe get on the end of a try now and again, someone else can run the lines and I’d just be running in support and finish it off. I just think it would be kind of fun. Plus everyone knows who the 10 of a team is but they also don’t always get all the credit, bit of an unsung hero.

Favourite place in Scotland?

This is such a tough one. I obviously grew up in Helensburgh so I’ve always been close to the sea, so I love coastal places. Edinburgh has a special place in my heart, but I also love Glasgow, so I don’t know… if I’m going to be really specific though I’ll maybe say Inverleith Park. It might be a bit cliche, but we used to go there for nice walks, good coffee, it’s a nice place to relax. I used to go there a lot during university and I still like to go there during off days in camp.

What’s the one item you’d take with you to a desert island?

If I’m there with some teammates then that’s easy – I’m taking a deck of cards! We’ll not die of boredom!

Which three guests would you invite to your dream dinner party?

Maybe I’ll get a musician along, so Paolo Nutini maybe? If he sang any of his songs that would just be amazing. I’ll maybe go for like a Hollywood A lister next. Know who I’ve always thought would be fun is Melissa McCarthy! I find her so funny and I think she’d have so many good stories, and I’d love her insight into Hollywood! She’d be really interesting. One more? Maybe Simone Biles. I mean she’s just an incredible sportsperson.

If you could swap lives with any celebrity for a day, who would it be?

This is super difficult. I’ll maybe say Claudia Winkleman because she’s an icon, and it means I could host The Traitors!

What’s your favourite thing about being part of Scotland Women?

The people. My teammates. Performance sport is really hard and they make it that bit easier. Obviously we play for our country but we also play for our teammates and they are the ones who get you through the good times, and the bad times. They’re all just great people.