Congratulations to Stirling County’s Evie Gallagher, who has been named by iNews in their team of the tournament for this year’s rugby Six Nations.
Stirling County are immensely proud that Evie Gallagher has been named by iNews in their team of the tournament for this year’s rugby Six Nations.
It has been a difficult few weeks for Scotland with some strong performances not quite translating into wins. Evie missed the opening game with illness but it has then been a breakthrough tournament for her.
Evie has played throughout the matches with Wales, France, Italy and Ireland, initially starting at flanker and then moving to number 8. Across those games Evie has worked tirelessly, carrying the ball 55 times and making 52 tackles. Those stats are impressive enough but add to that the metres Evie has made – a total of 310 across the four matches, which is outstanding for a forward.
This performance is a continuation of the form Evie has been showing for Stirling County this season. It is no surprise that County have thrived when Evie has not been required for international duty. She has been a powerhouse in the Premiership and inspired her team-mates with her tremendous work rate. Evie exemplifies humility, hard work and commitment to the team.
Evie started out at Stirling County in P4. In those days Evie was a quick and courageous scrum-half, who commanded the respect of all the boys she was playing alongside. Evie played with the minis through to the U12s, going on tour to Wales, England and Ireland and picking up a good collection of tournament medals. As she went into senior school, at Stirling High, Evie was one of the trailblazers as Stirling County established girls teams to bridge the gap between mini-rugby and U18 rugby. Evie was selected for the first intake to the Kilgannon Academy at Stirling County.
In her high school years, Evie trained and played for the Stirling County girls’ teams and also trained with the boys in the Academy. As Evie worked hard in the gym she developed into a powerful ball carrying centre. Evie was a dominant player in the teams that won the Girl’s 16 and U18 cups at Murrayfield and was a key player for Scotland age-grade teams.
In senior rugby, Evie has moved to the back row, where she mixes power and pace, with impressive handling skills. Aged just 21, Evie has a bright future ahead of her and will be aiming for selection to Scotland’s World Cup squad in New Zealand, in October this year. With such an impressive Six Nations behind her, Evie can expect to be central to Bryan Easson’s plans.
Evie is one of a growing number of girls to have come through the County junior section and achieve international honours. Evie Wills and Eva Donaldson have both featured in recent squads and there were six players who came through the County juniors and played for Edinburgh University in the British Universities (BUCS) final this year. The production line continues with Stirling County lifting the National Cups for U16 and U18 girls and with ten players in the successful U18 Scotland girls squad. Women’s rugby is going from strength to strength and there can be no better role model for young girls than Evie Gallagher.
