Scotland players say World Cup signing decision was ‘inhumane’

The players told BBC Sport that the team had discussed boycotting one match during the 2025 Women’s Six Nations Championship – five months before the start of the World Cup – to try to reach a solution with Scottish Rugby over its request for 12-month contracts.

All players contacted say they were told that contract decisions were performance-based and that they might get a new contract if they performed well in the tournament, adding to the pressure.

“It was literally a lifeline or deathline,” one player said.

“It’s like I need to do everything I can on this rugby field, otherwise I won’t get a job and I’ll have trouble paying the rent.

“When you don’t sleep, you don’t have an appetite. You’re just miserable most of the day. It’s really hard to put on a show or do yourself justice.”

Scottish Rugby’s response said players had been told “on a number of occasions that their independent playing performance at the World Cup was not the sole criterion for any potential change in their contract status”.

One player was told that her contract was expiring in October, and said she had been visiting job search websites “most nights” during the tournament looking for jobs that were “suitable” for her life as a club rugby player.

“Before you start your job, you try to bargain and talk to a new employer and say, ‘Can I quit at this time?’ Because I have to go to my other job,” she said. [club rugby training].

“Then I’ll come in tired in the morning because I didn’t go to bed until midnight.”

Players on contracts can no longer represent Scotland, but are now subject to the country’s national team agreement, which offers them £75 a day, not including rest days, to attend Scotland’s training camps.

One player said she “can’t contribute” to this amount, adding: “I won’t be able to pay my mortgage.”

Another player said fears about her future had an “emotional impact”, adding: “I didn’t want to be there. I look at it with fatigue. It was a huge opportunity but I only have negative thoughts about it.”

“[After the tournament] I removed myself from social settings, any settings where people could ask me a lot about rugby.

“If I entered that environment, I would try to remove myself as quickly as possible, because it makes me panic and stressed.”

The player said Scotland Rugby had not been in contact about any follow-up support.

“There wasn’t any kind of input about, ‘Do you need psychology?’ or anything like that,” she said.