Rugby trailblazers Ashley and Lexie hope sport will get World Cup boost
Two women are hoping that the Rugby World Cup which reaches its exciting conclusion this week will give a big boost to the sport they love.
When they’re not working in their day jobs at the Cumberland Building Society, Ashley Clark and Lexie Glendinning are successful rugby players in their own rights.
Both are members of the Annan Warriors women’s team which finished the season this year on a high and is helping to blaze a trail for local women’s rugby.
“The whole town was behind us, and the hype was unbelievable,” says Ashley looking back on the season’s highlight. “We had girls who haven't played before approaching us and saying I wish I could do that. And we’re saying, just get yourself along.”
The Warriors hit a tough patch after Covid when some of their most experienced players dropped out, and the team had to work hard to rebuild, says Ashley who has been team captain since 2023.
Last season they finished in second place in the league and followed that with an outstanding win in the Silver Saturday competition.
Never having made it further than a semi-final in a cup competition in 10 years of trying, this time the Warriors won every game in their pool and reached the semi-finals against Lenzie, who had previously beaten them by a big margin.
The game ended in a 17-17 draw and went to extra time, with Lenzie in the lead. But in the last moment the Warriors scooped victory with a try and conversion, making it 31-32.
This meant for the first time they were on their way to Murrayfield for the final in April - where they were again victorious.
Riding high, the Warriors flew to Majorca to compete in Europe’s largest beach rugby competition. They beat teams from Spain, Scotland, England and Switzerland to make the final, where agonisingly they lost by one try.
“I’ve been with the team for 10 years and I have seen so many highs and lows,” says Ashley.
“This season it was nice to finish second in the league, but nothing compared to getting to Murrayfield on Silver Saturday – that was the highlight of my 10 years’ playing and something I never thought we would achieve. I can’t explain how much that meant to us.
“I led the team out and my daughter Lylah was the mascot, she was holding my hand and shaking with excitement. And the noise from the crowd was incredible, they were chanting our songs.”
Rebuilding after Covid was not easy. “We had to start almost from scratch, and we had a big recruitment drive, but a lot had never touched a ball in their life,” she says.
“There were times I thought there was never going to be light at the end of the tunnel. But last season all the pieces started to slot together.
“It’s such a small corner of the country. The majority of teams come from the central belt of Scotland, and they have such a lot of people to choose from, and we don’t have that. The fact we can have enough people to have a squad at every game is a credit to the region.”
At the End of Season Awards night in May, Lexie was awarded Coaches’ Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year.
“It’s been an absolute whirlwind,” she says.
Lexie who is 21, lives on her parents’ dairy farm near Eastriggs. “I just feel very proud of the team and very excited for what’s to come in the next season,” she says.
During the day she is a Customer Advisor and Vulnerable Customer Champion at the Annan branch of The Cumberland.
Her love of rugby began when her older sister attended a Come and Try session with the Annan Hornets girls’ team.
“She was meant to take a friend but none of her friends wanted to go, so mum forced me to go along. I didn’t want to, and I sat in the car and mum had to drag me out. I was very nervous. But I scored a try up the wing and I absolutely loved it,” says Lexie who was only 12 at the time.
She never looked back and worked her way up to the women’s team in 2021.
“I injured my hamstring last year and came back for the start of the season. I had always played in the backs, but I came back as a forward, in the scrum, and I have found I really enjoy playing there.”
A move to work for The Cumberland a year ago meant she was able to attend all the training and matches, where shifts at a previous job had often prevented her. “I was able to dedicate myself to it fully. And my manager has been very supportive,” she says.
Going into the 2024-25 season Lexie says the team was up for a fight.
“People just wanted it. We came second in the division and then everyone usually takes a break over Christmas, but a lot of people just kept working, going out on runs and going to gym sessions.”
She says her highlight was the semi-final against Lenzie.
“We played over one hundred minutes of rugby, and it was the last kick that won it for us.
“It was a hot day and at the end I was incredibly tired. Lenzie are a really inspiring team, and they had beaten us at the start of the season.”
Ashley joined the team shortly after it launched when she was 30. She had recently moved to Gretna where she lives with her partner Thomas and children Ayda, 19, Josh, 15, and Lylah, 10. Her youngest was just nine months old at the time.
“I saw an advert for a Come and Try day and I thought, I like watching rugby how hard can it be? Quite hard, it turns out!
“There was a coach there and I remember him taking me to the side and saying, you are coming back I can see something in you.
“I thought it would help me shed some baby weight and make some new friends.”
At The Cumberland she is a Risk Analyst based at the Carlisle head office. She laughs when she says: “We have morning calls at the start of the week, and they will ask - have you got a black eye this week?
“They are really supportive and were very chuffed when we got to Murrayfield. They put up with me crying with nerves before and crying happy tears afterwards.”
Ashley says rugby has made her realise her inner strength and developed her confidence.
“I’ve made some of my best friends for life. I have got to know an eclectic bunch of people who come together with a common love of the game.”
They take part in lots of fun activities outside rugby, like a recent raft race, and support one another, with mums playing a full part in the team.
“I always say Lylah has 20 aunties. She comes on the team bus around the country with us and the other girls are the same. We take turns watching the kids on the side lines.
“One girl recently had a baby, and she will be in the changing rooms changing a nappy and then going out and playing the game of her life. We all muck in and help each other.”
For Lexie, as proud as she is of the team, she believes there is still more to do in promoting women’s rugby.
“There is still a stigma around it. If I tell folk I play rugby they are often surprised, or shocked,” she says.
She welcomes the increased profile of the sport nationally and internationally, and not least the fact that there are now rugby boots made specifically for women, when they previously had to play in ill-fitting men’s boots.
“I wish I had a pound for every time someone asks me, is it the same as the men’s game, do you tackle? I just laugh,” says Ashley, who has notched up two broken ankles, a broken rib and a broken wrist over her playing career.
“There is a much bigger profile now with the international games and even some of the club games getting more coverage, and social media has played a massive part in helping the break the stigma.”
Lexie, who coaches the Annan under 14 girls, played with one of the Scotland team members Emma Orr when they were younger and says she is an inspiration.
Both Ashley and Lexie are hopeful many more women and girls will step forward and experience the sport.
“Just give it a try, just take the jump,” said Lexie. “There is a position for everyone, and the team is like a family, we all look out for each other. And there is a really good social side.”
Ashley says girls and women should not hesitate. “I just know they won’t regret it. I haven’t met a single person that’s said it’s not for me after coming along to try it, no matter how nervous they are. They change their minds within the first hour.”
As for this season, she says: “Our goal last season was to win the league, and we just missed out. So that will be the goal for the next year. I am quietly confident.”