Scottish Rugby Expands Women's Contracts to 35

Scottish Rugby unveiled a plan to expand and professionalise the women’s programme, increasing contracted players from 32 to 35 and creating a head of women’s high-performance pathways and the union’s first managing director for the female game. The new mixed model will support 17 players based in England and France and 18 players in Scotland (11 full-time and seven development) who will be trained through a centralised programme at Oriam, with a further 15 emerging players given day-to-day access to the high-performance system. Contracts are for one year; selection for national teams remains independent of contract status and remuneration is covered by a separate National Team Agreement, and the union has not disclosed the total financial outlay. Reports indicate 22 members of the recent World Cup squad received renewals. The timing of contract talks during World Cup preparations drew criticism from players including captain Rachel Malcolm and veteran Jade Konkel, who was not offered a deal and announced her retirement; CEO Alex Williamson called the situation “challenging” but declined to apologise. Scottish Rugby says it is investing more in the women’s game and aims to accelerate player development toward the 2029 Rugby World Cup while maintaining domestic pathways such as the Celtic Challenge and club and university leagues.