Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week – 2025 in review
6 Oct 2025It’s been another year to celebrate for women and girls rugby across Scotland, with huge steps forward in participation, the Women’s Rugby World Cup, match officiating, and more.
during the 2025 Six Nations Women’s Summer Series game between England and Scotland in the Centre of Sporting Excellence, Caerphilly, Wales, Saturday, July 5th, 2025 (Photo by Andrew Dowling / Inpho) Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week 2025 – starting today and running until Sunday 12 October – celebrates females being active in whatever form that takes.
Scottish Rugby proudly supports opportunities for everyone to participate, and actively works in communities to remove barriers, and drive engagement for women and girls to grow their confidence in participating in rugby, but also in sport and physical activity generally.
Some highlights this year:
The highlight of the year has undoubtedly been the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England. Our Scotland Women squad performed exceptionally, winning two of three pool matches before reaching the quarter final stage for the first time in 23 years.
Scotland Women hooker Elis Martin said:
“Scotland’s performance at the Women’s Rugby World Cup this year surpassed what people thought we were capable of. This time a few years ago we were on a losing streak that was years long, and now we are making historic wins and progressing to quarter finals!
“Hopefully our progress and successes can inspire people to pick up a ball and give it a go. The pride and camaraderie that you get from being in a rugby team is unmatched and is something I would wish for every Scottish woman and girl.”
Looking forward, Scotland’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations campaign will take on a new level when the home side takes on England at Scottish Gas Murrayfield for an historic clash on Saturday April 18. Making Moves tickets are on sale now – with just over 13,000 tickets already sold – don’t miss out!
Club spotlights
During the hype surrounding the World Cup, a series of videos shone a light on the exceptional work that three clubs are doing to provide opportunities for everyone, at every age and ability, to play rugby – Strathendrick RFC, Preston Lodge RFC and Bishopton RFC. You can see those videos here.
Trailblazing referee
Hollie Davidson has had another exceptional year on and off the field. Days before she refereed the World Cup final in London, Hollie was presented with the World Rugby Referee Award in partnership with Emirates at the Women’s Rugby Global Summit.
Hollie has been a trailblazer for female match officials in recent years, continually setting first after first as one of the most experienced referees in the game with more than a quarter of her 46 matches in the middle having come in the men’s test arena.
Celtic Challenge
The 2024/25 Celtic Challenge was another positive step for women’s rugby in Scotland, with both Edinburgh Rugby Women and Glasgow Warriors Women showcasing impressive growth and talent. Edinburgh began the campaign with dominant, attacking performances that highlighted their flair and teamwork, while Glasgow celebrated their first-ever Celtic Challenge victory – a milestone that underlines their progress across.
Molly Poolman, Hannah Ramsay, Adelle Ferrie and Rhea Clarke all earned their first Scotland caps in months that followed from the season. Poppy Mellanby made her debut for Glasgow, becoming the youngest in the club’s history, aged 17. She went on to play a crucial role in Scotland U20 Women’s season.
The Celtic Challenge is introducing knock-out rugby for the first time in the upcoming season, promising for a bigger and better competition. The league will kick-off on 20 December, with the traditional 10-round league season, culminating in a high-stakes semi-finals and the inaugural Celtic Challenge final. All fixtures will be announced in due course.
Scotland U18 Women
Lindsey Smith’s side came out 21-12 winners over England on the second matchday of the Six Nations Festival at Wellington College. The victory marked the team’s first win of the competition with Scarlett Down, Bethan Mathieson and Ailsa Merryweather all dotting down.
Scotland U20 Women
Scotland U20 Women competed in the Six Nations Summer Series, and the young squad demonstrated impressive resilience and flashes of attacking flair, with several standout individual performances. While results didn’t always go their way, the experience gained against high-calibre opposition has been invaluable in developing confidence, physicality, and game awareness.
Freya MacColl was listed joint fourth in tries scored in the tournament, with three. Lucy MacRae was joint second on successful conversions with five. Poppy Mellanby ranked third for metres carried (308.9) and second for metres gained (237.2), whilst Merryn Gunderson topped the charts for breakdown steals, with three.
Improved broadcast deal for domestic game
More Scottish womens’ domestic rugby than ever before is being shown on BBC ALBA and Scottish Rugby YouTube, thanks to a partnership agreement committing to show five Arnold Clark Women’s Premiership matches this season, including the final – scheduled for the middle of December.
Other agreements have committed to broadcast women and girls’ club rugby in other competitions such as Silver Saturday and the National Youth Cup finals days.
