Ainsworth inspired by Six Nations Women's Summer Series

The Herald Scotland

25-07-2025

This year's instalment marked the second time the 21-year-old fly-half from Stirling has played in the competition, which sees Under-20 sides go head-to-head across three matchdays.
Scotland were unable to win any of their matches but Glasgow Warriors prospect Ainsworth is taking plenty of inspiration from her experience in Caerphilly.
'I just want to continue to improve,' she said. 'Go back to club, continue working on all aspects of my game, and then see how far it can get me.
'I think you've seen from previous years that the Summer Series is great. So many from last year have gone on to the senior international team and have played and got caps for the country.
'We want to develop and continue to use the Under-20s as a place to get experience and develop, and it is a good competition to then progress further.
'We used to not have a clear pathway, it used to just be your club and then straight to national.
'But getting the experience of having these camps, going away for two weeks with the team and getting used to playing at a higher level, is a good stepping stone to getting to that national team.'
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland Women's U20s head coach Louise Dalgliesh is proud of her players' development throughout the 2025 Six Nations Women's Summer Series despite failing to win any of their three games.
Read more ➡️ https://t.co/CKTTHOScqP#U6NSummerSeries pic.twitter.com/lL9b9FwoKU — Six Nations Under-20s (@SixNationsU20) July 21, 2025
Scotland started their campaign at the Centre for Sporting Excellence in South Wales with a battling 31-17 defeat to England.
Ainsworth then scored in her side's 52-29 loss against the hosts before they were beaten 62-7 by Ireland in the final fixture.
While results did not go as expected, Ainsworth believes there is a lot she and her team can take from their time at the tournament.
She added: 'It was a great experience, thankfully the weather stayed nice for us as well.
'Obviously, we didn't quite get the results we were hoping for, but we worked hard, improved as a team, and it was such a great experience to go and play against different nations.
'We learnt adaptability, you would go into a game expecting something and then it might not necessarily be what it was, so we would change our game or do what we had to do to play against the opposition and try and beat them.
'But also, working together as a team, coming together after the games if we were a bit upset, going and analysing what happened, the things we did well, as well as what we needed to work on.
'It was great scoring tries for Scotland. It is always great putting on a Scotland jersey, but scoring for Scotland and getting points on the board is always amazing."
Discover the future of international rugby at the 2025 Women's Summer Series – where rising stars shine. Follow the action live at sixnationsrugby.com/u6n and on Instagram @u20sixnations.