Scottish Rugby announces 28 women's full contracts

Scotland reached the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, losing to finalists England

Scottish Rugby has announced 35 women's contracts are in place for the 2025-26 season following criticism around the issue.

Captain Rachel Malcolm had said uncertainty over players' futures had been "very disruptive" before the World Cup.

Having reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2002, experienced trio Lisa Cockburn, Jade Konkel and Caity Mattinson announced their international retirement, with Konkel saying the team had reached the last eight "through no help of the SRU."

Now 28 players are on full contracts, with 17 at English or French clubs and 11 based in Scotland with Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.

There are also seven Scotland-based players on development contracts.

A further 15 "emerging players" will have access to a new high-performance programme.

Last season, Scottish Rugby supported the 32 players in the World Cup squad.

"We have increased the number of players supported directly by Scottish Rugby for the coming season and already started the centralised training programme at Oriam in recent weeks," said chief executive Alex Williamson.

"Our intention is to build the women's game in Scotland and today's contracting commitment is the next step in that important process.

"The Rugby World Cup has undoubtedly given us a strong platform. Our commitment to the women's game remains and our focus now moves to qualifying for, and competing in, Rugby World Cup 2029."

The union has not specified which players have been awarded deals, while the search continues for a new head coach to replace Bryan Easson.

"We have some key appointments to still make," said performance director David Nucifora.

"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."

The Scotland selection model for the Women's Six Nations and global WXV competitions is unchanged, with players available regardless of their contract status and remunerated through the separate 'national team agreement'.