Scotland Women Training Squad Announced

Youth, experience and the legacy of Scotland’s summer of women’s sevens blend to produce the Scotland Women’s squad looking forward to competing at the upcoming RBS 6 Nations.Head coach Karen Findlay said: “We enjoyed a really positive summer camp, brought in new talent to our Scotland Series matches and saw how the dedicated sevens programme made significant improvements to individual players’ fitness and skills levels, providing a good core to moving the whole squad forward.”The continuity in the coaching team [with assistant coaches Chris Reid and Scott Forrest] has really helped and we’ve been able to bring in specialist coaches to target specific areas, building on our Tuesday evening skills sessions.??Some players have returned from a season out, such as Annabel Sergeant and Gillian Inglis who have performed well and thoroughly deserve their reinclusion, alongside highly committed new faces such as Nikki McLeod, who is equally comfortable at hooker or in the back row alongside fellow newcomer Kelly Shields, and Jade Konkel who has moved up from the under-20 programme.??”There are plenty of new faces coming through which sends out a positive message that there’s every opportunity to work your way into the squad.”??Scotland Women kick off their Six Nations campaign away against England on Saturday 2 February before three home games at three different venues, including a fixture against Wales at Scotstoun, much anticipated by Findlay.??”We had a training camp in Glasgow in November and I had the pleasure of coaching at a girls’ event that ran alongside that. There were a lot of girls there and it was clear to see that much of the good work being done in the clubs and schools is paying dividends, as there were many exciting young talented players from across Scotland taking part.So I hope this season’s Six Nations – given we are taking our matches to different venues throughout the tournament – will give these young players and the local rugby communities the chance to come along, watch and support the team, and get more people involved with the game.”?Scotland Women RBS 6 Nations training squadBacksLouise Dalgliesh (RHC Cougars)Sarah Dixon (Stirling County)Megan Gaffney (Hillhead/Jordanhill)Tanya Griffith (RHC Cougars)Lauren Harris (Melrose)?Gillian Inglis (Melrose)Steph Johnston (RHC Cougars)Sarah Law (Murrayfield Wanderers)Leanne Neary (RHC Cougars)Lisa Ritchie (Carlisle)Annabel Sergeant (Richmond)Laura Steven (Murrayfield Wanderers)ForwardsTracy Balmer (Worcester)Susie Brown (Richmond)Beth Dickens (Murrayfield Wanderers)Tess Forsberg (Richmond)Jade Konkel (Hillhead/Jordanhill)Mary Lafaiki (Hillhead/Jordanhill)Suzanne McKerlie-Hex (Murrayfield Wanderers)Nikki McLeod (Morgan)Bridget Millar-Mills (Worcester)Becca Parker (Hillhead/Jordanhill)Sarah Quick (Murrayfield Wanderers)Kelly Shields (Murrayfield Wanderers)Lindsey Smith (Hillhead/Jordanhill)Anna Stodter (Loughborough Students)Lindsay Wheeler (Richmond)SCOTLAND WOMEN fixtures 2013Friday 18 January            Scotland v The Army (training game)      Murrayfield     k/o 7.15pmSaturday 2 February        Scotland v England                                Esher, Surrey     k/o 2pm  Sunday 10 February        Scotland v Italy                                     Mayfield, Dundee k/o2pmSaturday 23 February      Scotland v Ireland                                 Lasswade      k/o 2pmSunday 10 March            Scotland v Wales                                  Scotstoun     k/o 2pm (tbc)?Friday 15 March              Scotland v France                                 Dijon         k/o 7pm?