Why uncertainty clouds Scotland future despite fine World Cup

Scotland may have enjoyed their best Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign since 2002, but any post-tournament buzz evaporated in the media zone after Sunday’s quarter-final defeat by England.

A simple question was posed to the players – what next? All answered in similar, uncertain fashion.

Many players, just like media and supporters, do not know.

Just 15 players are rumoured to be contracted, or supported, in the coming months. We are yet to be told exactly which players those are.

And who will lead them? We know it will not be Bryan Easson, head coach for the previous five years, who has taken them to new heights.

The final whistle in Bristol did not just end Scotland’s campaign, it signalled the end of an era.

Although the number of contracts is yet to be officially confirmed, number eight Jade Konkel and prop Molly Wright confirmed they had not been offered new deals.

Konkel and Lisa Cockburn have announced their international retirements, with the former delivering a scathing parting shot by asserting that the team made it to the last eight “through no help of the SRU”.

The speculation around the figure of 15 seems at odds with what Scottish Rugby CEO Alex Williamson told the BBC’s Scottish Rugby Podcast earlier this month.

“We are going to invest more than we’ve ever invested, and have more professional players than we’ve ever had, but we are in a transitional moment,” he said.

“It’s currently 32 and our expectation is, up here in Scotland, we’ll end up with more than that – probably 35 plus.”

He went on to imply that some players who had not had their contract renewed did not have clubs for next season down south. However, Konkel has confirmed she will remain with Harlequins while Wright has a contract with Sale Sharks.

“There are players within the current World Cup squad who have not had their contracts to play down south renewed,” Williamson said. “Therefore, they are without a club contract from us.

“The obligation is then on them to go find a contract with a team in England.

“They could continue to play for Scotland, we would give them a national team agreement, like they’re currently playing on in the World Cup. That’s still possible for them.

It also remains unclear what happened when Easson was relieved of his duties. The timing of the announcement, a month before the World Cup, has also been queried.

Scottish Rugby’s performance director David Nucifora intimated the decision was made by the head coach himself. Williamson sang a similar tune.

“Brian and I had a very straightforward conversation, a positive conversation, it was constructive,” he said.

“As we mapped out what was going to be happening in women’s rugby, we agreed together this was a good opportunity, the right time, for him to leave.”

After the quarter-final, Easson was asked if he had wanted to stay on after this tournament, and said: “We had conversations around it. It’s one of these things. The decision was made.

“Once these decisions are made, it’s vitally important that I support whatever the decisions are.”

Following Konkel’s comments in the aftermath of the 40-8 loss to England, former players were quick to support her sentiment.

“It’s definitely a fair comment,” former captain Lisa Martin said. “They used the emotion to say, ‘this is what we’re about, this is the level we can play at’ and force that respect upon themselves.

“It’s been so frustrating that most of this World Cup has been centred around all the things that have been happening behind the scenes, especially when Scotland have performed so strongly.

“Conversations need to start happening, especially around the legacy of this World Cup – not only from a playing point of view and what the team will look like going forward, but what the club game looks like going forward.

“We don’t know what they’re wanting to do off the back of this. In terms of the national team, what is the performance pathway looking like? At the moment, there hasn’t been one confirmed.”

Former prop Heather Lockhart agreed, strongly criticising the timing of the contract talks that Williamson called unavoidable.

“That [timing] should never have been the case,” Lockhart said. “It’s testament to the character and resolve of all the 32 [players], the management and the coaching staff that Scotland got to the quarter-finals.

“Fifteen full-time contracts is not enough. It takes a squad of 32 to perform at the highest level.

“I’m urging both boards at Scottish Rugby to look at this as a matter of urgency and remedy the situation. There might be long-term plans, which is great, but there has to be a transitional period for things to be sorted out.”