By Graham Bean

Copyright scotsman

Scottish Rugby has unveiled its new blueprint for the women’s game after being heavily criticised in the aftermath of the national side’s quarter-final exit at the Rugby World Cup. Scotland, who were playing in their first quarter-final in 23 years, had been locked in a contract dispute since the Six Nations, with many of the World Cup squad expected to be without a deal at the conclusion of the tournament. Jade Konkel, the 79-times capped back-row forward, revealed she had not been offered a new contract and announced her international retirement. Now the governing body has revealed its contracting model for the 2025-26 season. There will be more contracted players than the previous year but many of the contracts appear to be on lesser terms. For the 2025-26 season, Scottish Rugby has 35 contracts in place: 17 for players outside Scotland; 11 full contracts and seven development contracts for players based in Scotland. In addition, a further 15 emerging players will have “day to day access to the high-performance programme”. It means up to 50 players will have access to high-performance environments. Scottish Rugby have not released the names of the contracted players but The Scotsman understands that of the 35, 22 were in the World Cup squad. Overall, it will be a younger cohort with the governing body looking to build to the next World Cup, in 2029. The 17 players based outside of Scotland are playing in the top divisions in England and France and will be supported in their development within the Premiership Women’s Rugby and Élite Féminine league structures. The players based in Scotland will be supported through a new centralised programme at Oriam High Performance Centre in Edinburgh. Work started earlier this month with these players who will represent Edinburgh Rugby or Glasgow Warriors in the Celtic Challenge, the semi-pro tournament which involves teams from Scotland, Ireland and Wales.. Additional players for the Celtic Challenge season will be selected from the Arnold Clark Premiership League, BUCS Super League and the Scottish Qualified Programme, with the aim of providing a pathway for players with potential to progress within the Scottish game. The selection model for Scotland playing in the Guinness Six Nations and Global WXV competitions also remains the same in that players can be selected regardless of their contract status, with all selected players remunerated for their time and appearances through the separate National Team Agreement. Bryan Easson, the Scotland head coach, stepped down after the World Cup and the search continues for his replacement. Scottish Rugby are understood to be looking at two other key appointments for the women’s game. One will oversee the new pathways structure while the other will be a first ever MD for the women’s game in Scotland, a more strategic role which will give Scotland a voice at the game’s top table at Six Nations and World Rugby level. The latter appointee will also be part of Scottish Rugby’s senior leadership team. Alex Williamson, Scottish Rugby chief executive, insisted the governing body’s commitment to the women’s game remains strong. “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,” he said in a statement. “Our commitment to the women’s game remains and our focus now moves to qualifying for, and competing in, Rugby World Cup 2029. 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. “Our intention is to build the women’s game in Scotland and today’s contracting commitment is the next step in that important process.” David Nucifora, Scottish Rugby’s consultant performance director, 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. “We are building a new high-performance environment at Oriam and the women’s programme will directly benefit from the expertise we have added around nutrition, S&C, and wider athlete support. “We have some key appointments to still make but I’m confident the full programme will be operating within the timescales we planned and will strengthen the opportunities available to players in Scotland.” Speaking after the loss to England in the World Cup quarter-finals, Scotland’s long-serving captain Rachel Malcolm, said that the game in this country was at “a pivotal point”. “We’ve had a core group for ten years and it feels like we are on the crest of something pretty special,” said Malcolm. “We’ve shown what we can achieve with support. “I don’t want the support to decrease but to continue. We need to keep driving on and challenging and use this as a springboard. “We’re all in unique situations. There’s a risk of losing players and we don’t want that — we need to keep our players in the game.”