Scotland

Union	Scottish Rugby Union
Head coach	Bryan Easson
Captain	Rachel Malcolm
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	9 (as of 4 September 2023)
First international
Scotland 10–0 Ireland  (Edinburgh, Scotland; 14 February 1993)
Biggest win
Russia 0–84 Scotland  (Enköping, Sweden; 17 May 2009)
Biggest defeat
England 89–0 Scotland  (Twickenham, England; 13 March 2011)
World Cup
Appearances	5 (First in 1994)
Best result	5th, 1994

The Scotland women's national rugby union team (Scots: Scotland weemen's naitional rugby union team) represents Scotland in women's international rugby union and is governed by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team competes in the annual Women's Six National Championship and has competed in five of the Women's Rugby World Cups since their hosted debut in 1994. The Nation plays an important role in the rugby world stage.

History

Scotland Women's first official test match was played against Ireland at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh on 14 February 1993, ending in a 10 - 0 win to the hosts. Leading from the front, first Scotland captain Sandra Colamartino was the scorer of both tries.^[1]

In April of the following year, Scotland stepped in as alternate host of the 1994 Women's Rugby World Cup, finishing fifth, the team's best appearance to date. Since then, the Women's team have competed in the 1998, 2002 ,2006, 2010 and 2021 iterations of the tournament.

The early streak of success peaked on 21 March 1998, as a 8–5 win over England in their final match of the Home Nations Championship marked the achievement of a Grand Slam for Scotland.

The Scottish Women's Rugby Union (SWRU) was the national governing body for women's rugby union in Scotland. It was responsible for the governance of women's rugby union within Scotland. Its role was all-encompassing. It went from youth recruitment, through administering all senior based (aged 16+) competition, through to the performance and management of the Scotland women's national rugby union team.

At its AGM in June 2009, the SWRU voted unanimously in favour of amalgamating the Scottish Rugby Union and the SWRU to form an integrated national governing body rugby in Scotland.^[2]

Thistle and the anthem

The thistle is the national flower, and also the symbol of the Scotland national rugby union team. According to legend the "guardian thistle" has played its part in the defence of Scotland against a night attack by Norwegian Vikings, one of whom let out a yell of pain when he stepped barefoot on a thistle, alerting the Scottish defenders. The Latin Nemo me impune lacessit ("No-one provokes me with impunity!" in English) is the motto of Scotland's premier chivalric order, the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle.^[3]

"Flower of Scotland" has been used since 1990 as Scotland's unofficial national anthem. It was written by Roy Williamson of The Corries in 1967, and adopted by the SRU to replace "God Save the Queen".

Strip

Scotland have traditionally worn navy blue jerseys, white shorts and blue socks. On the occasion that Scotland is the home side and the opposing team normally wears dark colours, Scotland will use its change strip. Traditionally this is a white jersey with navy blue shorts and socks. During a sponsorship deal, purple was introduced to the traditional blue jersey. This was a significant departure from the traditional colours of blue and white, although purple is inspired from the thistle flower.

Results summary

Overall

Women's
World Rugby Rankings

Top 20 rankings as of 25 December 2023^[4]

Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		England	096.18
2		New Zealand	090.56
3		France	087.89
4		Canada	086.27
5		Australia	081.61
6		Wales	076.67
7		Italy	075.61
8		Scotland	074.37
9		United States	072.02
10		Ireland	071.52
11		Japan	069.38
12		Spain	064.89
13		South Africa	064.37
14		Russia	061.10
15		Netherlands	060.02
16		Samoa	059.57
17		Fiji	058.65
18		Hong Kong	058.31
19		Sweden	056.01
20		Kazakhstan	055.97
*Change from the previous week

See also: List of Scotland women's national rugby union team matches

(Full internationals only)
Correct as of 13 October 2023

Rugby: Scotland internationals 1993–

Opponent	First game	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Percentage
Australia	1999	3	0	0	3	0.00%
Belgium	2009	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Canada	1994	7	1	0	6	14.29%
Colombia	2022	1	1	0	0	100.00%
England	1994	32	2	0	30	6.25%
France	1998	28	5	1	22	17.86%
Ireland	1993	32	17	0	15	53.13%
Italy	1988	22	7	1	14	31.18%
Japan	2019	2	1	0	1	50.00%
Kazakhstan	2006	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Netherlands	1995	6	5	0	1	83.33%
New Zealand	1994	4	0	0	4	0.00%
Russia	1994	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Samoa	2002	1	1	0	0	100.00%
South Africa	2010	5	3	0	2	60.00%
Spain	1997	23	15	0	8	65.22%
Sweden	1994	9	9	0	0	100.00%
United States	1998	6	1	0	5	16.67%
Wales	1993	36	16	0	20	44.44%
Summary	1993	221	88	2	131	39.82%

World Cup

Rugby World Cup
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA
1991	Did not participate
1994	5th place	5	3	0	2	72	42
1998	6th place	5	2	0	3	89	141
2002	6th place	4	2	0	2	41	53
2006	6th place	5	3	0	2	67	72
2010	8th place	5	1	0	4	57	132
2014	Did not qualify
2017
2021	Pool stage	3	0	0	3	27	89
Total	5th Place	27	11	0	16	353	529
Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place Home venue

Players

Notable internationalists

• Paula Chalmers, Scrum Half, named in World Cup Star XV
• Donna Kennedy, Number 8, most capped Scottish internationalist
• Jade Konkel, Number 8, first full-time professional Scottish internationalist

Honours

• WXV
  • WXV2 Winners: 2023

See also

Women's international rugby – the most complete listing of women's international results since 1982

References

External links

• Official website