RISING Wee County rugby star Megan Kennedy has signed a contract with Scottish Rugby last week.

The Alva woman, who featured in the Advertiser after she was capped in the Six Nations Championship this year, is one of eight female players to be contracted to the governing body.

Megan, who has five caps to her name, will be receiving financial support to facilitate training and preparations with the aim of securing qualification for the World Cup in 2021.

The 21-year-old said: “It’s a dream come true.

“The opportunity to focus on rugby while still developing my education is enormous for me.

“I’m very excited for the season ahead there are a lot of new and exciting challenges to look forward to.

“After a season of international rugby, I feel I have a better understanding of how robust I need to be to handle such intense competition and I believe my training will prepare me for that.

“I’ll continue to train hard both on and off the pitch and I believe my rugby will continue to develop.”

The Stirling County front-row forward, who is also supported by the BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy, joins Sarah Bonar, Jade Konkel, Lisa Martin, Helen Nelson, Chloe Rollie, Lana Skeldon and Lisa Thomson in the “2021 contracts”, which will be reviewed on an annual basis.

All players were instrumental in securing the 15-12 victory over Ireland at this year’s Six Nations, the first away victory in 12 years and it is hoped Scotland will be able to build on that momentum.

The number of contracted players now doubled from four to eight.

Gemma Fay, head of women and girls’ rugby at Scottish Rugby, said: “We’re delighted to be increasing our investment in performance women’s rugby and expanding the number of contracted players.

“Having players training and playing in a more competitive environment, more often, can only be good for Scotland Women and the women’s game more broadly.”