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Bryan Easson names Scotland squad to defend WXV 2 title
By Imogen Ainsworth
Scotland will travel to South Africa in September to defend their WXV 2 title, kicking off their campaign on Saturday 28 September against last year’s runners-up on points difference Italy at DHL Stadium.
They will then play their next two games at Athlone Stadium, facing Japan on Saturday 5 October and Australia on Saturday 12 October.
Three players who represented Scotland U20 during the Six Nations Summer Series have earned themselves a call-up to the senior squad for the upcoming Test fixtures.
Aila Ronald, Lucia Scott, and Leia Brebner-Holden all represented the age-group side in the inaugural Summer Series in Parma and will make the step up ahead of WXV.
Alongside them, uncapped Rachel Philipps has also been called up. Philipps represented Edinburgh in the Celtic Challenge, and signed for Premiership Women’s Rugby side Sale Sharks ahead of the 2024/25 season.
Harlequins forwards Jade Konkel and Sarah Bonar both return to the Scotland squad following injury, with Konkel expected to make her first appearance since WXV 2 in 2023.
Lisa Thomson, fresh from representing Team GB Sevens at her second Olympic Games, makes her return to the XVs game and is joined in the Scotland squad by a further 12 backs.
In the 30-player squad, 25 players are currently at clubs in the English PWR league. Six Loughborough Lightning players are included as well as five players from 2024 runners-up Bristol Bears.
Last season’s league debutantes Leicester Tigers and Trailfinders Women both have three players in the squad, while champions Gloucester-Hartpury and Saracens are each represented by two players.
Philipps and Mairi McDonald are the sole Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs representatives respectively, and Konkel and Bonar are the two players swapping the Harlequins quarters for their national jersey this autumn.
Prior to their departure to South Africa, Scotland will make history in their warm-up fixtures. After hosting this year’s WXV 2 counterparts Wales at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh on Friday 6 September, Scotland Women will face Fiji for the first time ever.
Fijiana, who are competing in WXV 3 this year, will line up against Bryan Easson’s side at Edinburgh’s Hive Stadium on Saturday 14 September.
This year's WXV adds the importance of vital preparation for the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup, which will be held in England from 22 August until 27 September. Register your interest for tickets to the biggest Women's Rugby World Cup to date here.
Tickets for WXV 2 are available now and are sold per round, starting at R35 for adults. Find out more and book your tickets here.
Scotland Women's squad for WXV 2
Forwards
Leah Bartlett (Leicester Tigers)
Christine Belisle (Loughborough Lightning)
Sarah Bonar (Harlequins)
Elliann Clarke (Bristol Bears)
Lisa Cockburn (Unattached)
Eva Donaldson (Leicester Tigers)
Evie Gallagher (Bristol Bears)
Jade Konkel (Harlequins)
Rachel Malcolm (Loughborough Lightning)
Elis Martin (Loughborough Lightning)
Fiona McIntosh (Saracens)
Rachel McLachlan (Montpellier)
Lana Skeldon (Bristol Bears)
Aila Ronald (University of Edinburgh)*
Alex Stewart (Corstorphine Cougars)
Emma Wassell (Loughborough Lightning)
Anne Young (Loughborough Lightning)
Backs
Leia Brebner-Holden (Gloucester-Hartpury/Cheltenham Tigers)*
Coreen Grant (Saracens)
Caity Mattinson (Ealing Trailfinders)
Mairi McDonald (Exeter Chiefs)
Francesca McGhie (Leicester Tigers)
Rhona Lloyd (GB 7s/ Stade Bordelais)
Helen Nelson (Loughborough Lightning)
Emma Orr (Bristol Bears)
Rachel Philipps (Sale Sharks)*
Lisa Thomson (GB 7s/Ealing Trailfinders)
Chloe Rollie (Ealing Trailfinders)
Lucia Scott (Hartpury University/Gloucester-Hartpury)*
Meryl Smith (Bristol Bears)
*Uncapped
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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