Scottish Rugby announce '17 full contracts' for women

Scottish Rugby have announced "an increase in contracted players from the previous year" for the women's game north of the border with "35 contracts in place", of which 17 are "full contracts".

Following Scotland's run to the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, 15 players were rumoured to have deals in place and Bryan Easson is no longer head coach.

Uncertainty over contracts was apparent in the run-up to Scotland's campaign in England.

After Scotland's tournament ended, experienced trio Lisa Cockburn, Jade Konkel and Caity Mattinson announced their international retirement and players were critical of Scottish Rugby for a perceived lack of support for the women's national team.

Thirty-two players were in Easson's squad this summer.

The union has not specified which players have been awarded deals, nor has a new head coach been announced, though performance director David Nucifora said: "We have some key appointments to still make."

"Maintaining a structure consistent with the period before the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 the model will continue to provide financial support for selected players to train, play and recover within their local environment – the PWR in England, the elite leagues in France or Celtic Challenge in Scotland," the organisation said.

"For the 2025-26 season, Scottish Rugby has 35 contracts in place; 17 players with full contracts will be supported in their development within the PWR and Elite league structures; 11 players with full contracts and seven players with development contracts will be based in Scotland.

"A further 15 emerging players will have day-to-day access to the high-performance programme. In 2024-25, 32 players were supported."

Scottish Rugby added it "remains fully committed to developing the women's game domestically" and explained selection for Scotland teams in the Women's Six Nations and WXV "remains the same".

"All selected players [will be] remunerated for their time and appearances through the separate National Team Agreement," the union explained.

CEO Alex Williamson commented: "The performances of Scotland women at the Women's Rugby World Cup have undoubtedly given us a strong platform to move into the next phase of our high-performance programme.

"Our commitment to the women's game remains and our focus now moves to qualifying for, and competing in, Rugby World Cup 2029."

Performance director David Nucifora added: "High Performance sport doesn't stand still and we intentionally wanted to be ready to start the next Rugby World Cup cycle at the earliest appropriate moment.

"I'm confident the full programme will be operating within the timescales we planned and will strengthen the opportunities available to players in Scotland."