Liz Musgrove

Liz Musgrove (born 25 December 1996) is a Scottish rugby player from Edinburgh who has played in multiple Women's Six Nations Championships, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship, despite only taking up the sport at the age of 20.[1] She is also a Junior British Judo Champion.[2]

Liz Musgrove
Date of birth (1996-12-25) 25 December 1996
Place of birthEdinburgh, Scotland
Height1.69 m (5 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb; 10 st 1 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Winger
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2018-19 Hong Kong Football Club ()
2019-2020 Darlington Mowden Park Sharks ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2018–present Scotland 10 (0)

Club career

In her first year of playing rugby, Musgrove helped Edinburgh University Women become the first Scottish team to reach the British Universities & College Sport (BUCS) final in 19 years.[3] The side also featured fellow Scotland Women 7s squad members, Sarah Law, Rhona Lloyd, Megan Gaffney and Lisa Thomson, plus Scotland Women prop Katie Dougan.[4]

On graduating from university, Musgrove played rugby for Hong Kong Football Club in the 2018-19 season.[5]

Following her return from Hong Kong, she played for the Darlington Mowden Park Sharks from 2019 to 2020.[6]

International career

Musgrove was selected for the Scotland Women 7s squad in 2017 following a successful first season playing rugby and made a try-scoring debut in the opening match of the Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens Trophy in Ostrava.[7]

Musgrove was selected by coach Shade Munro for the 2018 Women's Six Nations Championship, where she won her first full cap in the opener away to Wales.[8]

In 2019, and only three years since she started playing rugby, she took part in the qualifying tournament for the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series in Hong Kong.[9] In the same year, she was also selected for a national tour of South Africa under coach Philip Doyle.[10]

Musgrove was part of the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship team.[11] She started on the bench in the team's defeat to England, before coach Bryan Easson, brought her onto the starting line-up for the second match against Italy.[12][13] This represented her first start for Scotland in two years.[14] She played again in the closing match against Wales, which Scotland won 27-13.[15]

Prior to the championship, Musgrove had not represented her country since before she moved to Hong Kong in 2019. During that time, she had also experienced a problematic hip injury which prevented her joining national games.[16]

Personal life

Musgrove is one of several Scottish rugby champions who grew up in North Berwick.[17] With a background in judo and athletics, she took up rugby in September 2016 as she embarked on her third year studying Applied Sport Science at Edinburgh University.[18] In an interview with The Scotsman, she commented on her sudden transition to the sport, "Fast forward to 2016 and I thought I would give something new a try when my third year of university started in Edinburgh again in September – and a week later I was stepping out at BT Murrayfield for the Varsity match.”[19]

Before this, she had represented Scotland as part of the U18 athletics team in the 400 metres and spent eleven years competing in national and international judo competitions, including winning a bronze medal at the Junior British Judo Championships in 2009.[20]

During her year in Hong Kong, after graduation, she worked for Little Legends Sports and coaches the under-19 girls’ team at Hong Kong FC.[21]

Following this, she continues her studies with a masters in clinical exercise science.[22]

Honours
  • Winner of the 2016/17 British Universities & College Sport (BUCS) Championship with Edinburgh University[23]
  • Winner of the 2016/17 BUCS Championship Women's Sevens with Edinburgh University[24]
  • Winner of the 2016/17 BUCS Premier North League with Edinburgh University[25]

References
  1. "Elizabeth Musgrove". Scottish Rugby Union. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  2. "HKFC star brings judo and track background to rugby". South China Morning Post. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  3. BUCS Women's Rugby Championship Final: Northumbria v Edinburgh | HIGHLIGHTS, retrieved 27 May 2021
  4. "Elizabeth Musgrove". Scottish Rugby Union. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  5. "HKFC star brings judo and track background to rugby". South China Morning Post. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  6. "StackPath". www.mowdenpark.com. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  7. "Liz learning all the time and loving step up to Grand Prix level". Gilson Gray. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  8. Barnes, David (15 January 2018). "Scotland Women training squad announced ahead of Spain clash". The Offside Line. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  9. "Liz Musgrove will feel at home for Scotland at Hong Kong Sevens". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  10. "Doyle announces squad for South Africa". Scottish Rugby Union. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  11. "Musgrove & Maxwell back for Scotland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  12. "Musgrove returns as Easson makes four changes to Scotland side for Italy encounter". Six Nations Rugby. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  13. "Scotland make four changes for Italy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  14. "Liz Musgrove called into Scotland team for Six Nations clash". East Lothian Courier. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  15. Rendell, Sarah (24 April 2021). "Women's Six Nations: England, Ireland and Scotland win on finals day!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  16. "Musgrove looking to make Scotland return after two-year absence". East Lothian Courier. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  17. April 2019, Gary Heatly Thursday 18. "Rugby means a lot to the town - We explore North Berwick's role in producing rugby stars". Talking Rugby Union. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  18. "Musgrove looking to make Scotland return after two-year absence". East Lothian Courier. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  19. "Liz Musgrove will feel at home for Scotland at Hong Kong Sevens". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  20. "HKFC star brings judo and track background to rugby". South China Morning Post. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  21. "Liz Musgrove will feel at home for Scotland at Hong Kong Sevens". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  22. "Musgrove looking to make Scotland return after two-year absence". East Lothian Courier. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  23. Max. "Elizabeth Musgrove". Women's Rugby Data : Number 1 for Women's Rugby. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  24. Max. "Elizabeth Musgrove". Women's Rugby Data : Number 1 for Women's Rugby. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  25. Max. "Elizabeth Musgrove". Women's Rugby Data : Number 1 for Women's Rugby. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
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