Scotland Women to play England at Scottish Gas Murrayfield's main bowl

Edinburgh Reporter

12 hours ago

Scottish Rugby is continuing the Murrayfield 100 celebrations by announcing that the match against England in the 2026 Guinness Women's Six Nations will be played in the main bowl at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.
This is the first time that Scotland Women will play a standalone international in front of spectators in bowl.
Speaking on the announcement, captain Rachel Malcolm said: 'We are incredibly excited to play this match at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.
'We have all dreamed that one day our fan base would grow to the point where we would have the opportunity to run out, cheered on by our supporters, on this iconic pitch
'We always talk about leaving the shirt in a better place, and the fact that young girls playing in the National Youth Cup Finals can now look around and think, 'One day, I want to run out here for Scotland Women,' is so special. It shows how far we have come and how many ways we can inspire the next generation.
'There have been some incredible trailblazers before us, and right now it's our turn to make moves and keep pushing things forward with Scottish Rugby.'
Hive Stadium has been the home to Scotland Women since 2021. In that time, their fanbase has expanded, and in 2024 they reached a capacity crowd of 7,774 against England, marking a record attendance for the women's national team.
Scottish Rugby Chief Executive, Alex Williamson, said: 'This is such an exciting time for the growth of women's rugby. With the Rugby World Cup on our doorstep, records are already being broken months in advance. We want to celebrate that momentum by elevating the Scotland Women international experience for both players and fans.
'This is why we are 'Making Moves' by bringing the biggest game of the 2026 season to Scottish Gas Murrayfield.
'To celebrate the women's game in Scotland, and as part of the stadium's 100th anniversary celebrations, we're inviting rugby fans from all over the world to come and watch our national team play in what we hope will be the largest ever crowd for a Scottish women's sporting event.'
Scotland Women have played international matches in the main Murrayfield bowl on eight previous occasions.
The first was an autumn international in 2002 played as a double header with the men where the team, which included Scotland's highest capped player, Donna Kennedy, faced Sweden, whilst the men faced Fiji.
Indeed the first seven matches were played as double headers whilst the most recent occasion was on a snowy Monday afternoon in front of a few guests when Scotland played England in the 2020 Women's Six Nations following a rescheduling from Scotstoun thanks to Storm Ciara from the day before.
Next year's Guinness Women's 6 Nations match v England at Scottish Gas Murrayfield will be the first standalone women's international played there with a ticketed crowd.
Head of Women and Girls' Strategy, Gemma Fay, added: 'We launched our Women & Girls strategy in 2022. By 2024 we had already achieved our target of 7,000 fans when we played England in a sold-out Hive Stadium. Our next target had to be a new record crowd and that has to be in Scottish Gas Murrayfield.
'The growth in fans, combined with increase in girls and women participation to over 9,000, we know that now is the time to make the move with our women's national team.
'We are extremely excited that moving forward we are able to provide fans and players alike the opportunity to experience match days in either Hive Stadium or Scottish Gas Murrayfield and of course, that first match in the main bowl had to be England in the Guinness Women's Six Nations.'
To mark this historic occasion, Scottish Rugby is launching a 'Best Seat, Best Price' offer where fans can snap up tickets in the East Stand at the introductory price (£15 for adults, £10 for under 18s and £5 for children U12s), making this not only a record-breaking moment, but also an incredible opportunity for rugby fans to get a different view of their favourite sporting cathedral.
The offer is available for a limited time, so fans are encouraged to get in early and book the best seat(s) with the brilliant Best Seat, Best Price offer.
Fixture details:
Scotland v England – Saturday 18 April, KO 1:30pm
* Confirmation of kick off time for the Scotland v England clash will be confirmed shortly, together with the full schedule of all 2026 Guinness Women's Six Nations fixtures.
Pre sale for Scotland's Supporters Club members will go on sale on Thursday 5 June with General sale on Friday 6 June.
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