Gunderson: Scotland 'ready for battle' with England in U20 Summer Series

Yahoo

6 hours ago

Merryn Gunderson of Scotland during the Summer Series photocall at Caerphilly Castle, Caerphilly, Wales, Friday, July 4th, 2025 (Photo by Andrew Dowling / Inpho)
There's always an edge when Scotland take on England and one of the Scottish U20 women's captains Merryn Gunderson has said her side is ready for the battle when they take on their Red Rose counterparts on Saturday.
The two sides face off against one another in the opening round of fixtures of the 2025 Six Nations Women's Summer Series at the Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly.
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It is the second edition of the U20 tournament, which debuted in Italy, and after suffering three defeats out of three 12 months ago, the class of 2025 only have eyes for success in Wales this time around.
And Gunderson, who is part of a leadership group of four and will captain her country against England, knows her team is ready for the challenge ahead.
'Every single one of the girls is up for the battle that we're going to be given, which will be really good,' the 21-year-old back rower said.
'We will fight for it, we're ready to go out there and show what we can do and what we're worth.'
Gunderson plays domestically for Corstorphine Cougars/Edinburgh Rugby, having started playing the sport aged four due to her father being a coach at Forrester Rugby Club, and explained there's a good feeling around the camp ahead of their opening clash.
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'We're really excited, we've had such a big build-up this year which has been really nice,' she continued.
'Going from Italy last year to come to [Wales] this year, it's good vibes. We've had really good vibes in the squad, and it's been really nice to be around.'
Following on from the 2024 Women's Summer Series, 14 players across the six countries went on to achieve senior honours during the 2025 Guinness Women's Six Nations, including Scotland's Molly Poolman.
And Gunderson highlighted the importance of the competition for giving players the opportunity to standout and to use it as a springboard to break into the senior team.
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'It's a massive incentive for the girls,' she added.
'It's a great incentive to kick-off the World Cup too; that we can play before it and show what we can do.
'It's massively important this tournament exists and is shown on the platforms that they've got. We can show that women's rugby is growing and going from strength to strength.'
With women's rugby on an upward trajectory, the 2025 Six Nations Women's Summer Series is a big chance for stars of the future to gain vital international experience, graduate along the development pathway, while also inspiring a new generation of rugby fans.
Julie Paterson, Chief of Rugby at Six Nations Rugby, said: 'The Women's Summer Series is an essential part of the strategy and commitment of Six Nations Rugby, and the six unions and federations, to proactively support the creation and growth of opportunities in the women's game.'
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Spread across three dates during July, Scotland will also face Wales on 11 July before rounding off their campaign against Ireland six days later.