Ellon rugby star Emma Wassell has revealed she is “well on the way” to a return to full fitness following a serious knee injury and is “desperate” to be involved for Scotland in the landmark WXV 2 tournament in October.
From her international debut in 2014, Wassell’s name was inked into the Scotland squad for over 50 matches and, by the end of last year’s Rugby World Cup she had earned 60 caps.
Before and through that showpiece event in New Zealand the second-row, now 28, was managing a left knee issue and it turned out she had a hole in her articular cartilage.
“It wasn’t your usual knee injury, so it took a bit of time to decide what was the right course of action for it,” Wassell, who was at Murrayfield for Scottish Rugby’s Scottish Gas partnership announcement last week, explained.
“This type of injury after a graft takes time to heal, so I could not put any pressure through the knee for three months which was quite tricky.
“The good news is that I got a scan after three months and it was a positive scan in terms of my healing, so I am well on the way to recovery.
“I haven’t got an exact return to play date yet, but if everything keeps going well and goes to plan then I will be back for WXV 2.
“I was devastated to miss this year’s Six Nations, it is always hard to watch from the sidelines and although I was delighted to see us end things with two wins on the bounce, I really wanted to be out there playing.
“I have never had a long-term injury like this before and the drive and determination I feel to pull on a Scotland shirt again is there, I am desperate to do so.”
Progress being made ahead of 2025
The WXV 2 tournament that Wassell mentions is being played for the first time this year and will be in South Africa.
Scotland qualified for the second tier of WXV – World Rugby’s three-tier annual global women’s international XVs competition – thanks to finishing fourth in the TikTok Women’s Six Nations in March and April.
Fixtures are still to be finalised, but they will be taking on the likes of USA, South Africa, Japan and Samoa.
And Wassell believes Scotland can head into the event with confidence, stating: “The girls have just beaten Italy and Ireland, we have a large batch of us contracted now and we have to really aim to take momentum from the Six Nations into WXV 2.
“We are building all of the time with everything leading to the World Cup in England in 2025.”
Meanwhile, Wassell was very pleased to see Garioch’s Megan Hyland and Highland’s Rianna Darroch in the Scotland squad for the recent Rugby Europe U18 Sevens Girls Championship in Prague.
They were in action on Saturday and Sunday and Wassell said: “The more girls from the north of the country that are getting involved in rugby the better, it’s great to see, so a massive well done to those two young players.
“I’ll keep an eye on their progress with interest.”
