THIS time last year, Francesca McGhie was yet to pull on a Scotland jersey.

Fast forward 12 months and she has become a key part of her country’s success.

The speedy winger helped Scotland lift a trophy for the first time since 2001 and she narrowly missed out on a global award.

The rugby star has become integral as Scotland won six games in a row for the first time since the 1990s.

McGhie, of Musselburgh, has now signed a professional deal with Leicester Tigers.

READ MORE: Rugby: Francesca McGhie up for award after breakthrough year

Looking back on the last year, she said: “I don’t think I would have thought this year would have happened.

“I was definitely hoping it was on the cards in the future and it was part of my goals.

“The last 12 months have been a bit of a whirlwind and from the Celtic Challenge to now it has been 0-100 knots. I would not change any second of it – it has been amazing.

“Sometimes, especially now that I am down in Leicester, sitting in my house with my flatmates, we think, ‘this is our job now’.

“This is what we get to do and had you asked me last year, ‘What are you going to be doing?’ then hopefully it would be playing rugby.

“Whether I would have thought that was possible or achievable, probably not.

“It has been a crazy last few months!”

McGhie was a stand-out performer for The Thistles – Scotland’s development team – in the inaugural Celtic Challenge competition in 2023.

Those performances caught the eye of the national squad and she was handed a debut against England in the Six Nations.

Since then, she has been an ever-present in the starting line-up and won nine caps with three tries claimed along the way.

The most recent appearances came as Scotland secured bonus point wins over South Africa, USA and Japan to be crowned WXV 2 winners.

The former Loretto pupil said: “It was an incredible experience.

“South Africa was beautiful and the stadiums we played in. . . you do not get too many places with backdrops like that! It was quite the start and just overall being with the team and getting wins out there was great for us and women’s rugby in Scotland.”

Success in the opening two games meant the destination of the trophy would come down to the last round of fixtures.

READ MORE: Rugby: Winger Francesca McGhie's 'unbelievable' Scotland debut

Scotland defeated Japan 38-7 which left Italy needing to beat the USA by 24 clear points to win.

In the end, their 30-8 victory proved not quite enough and sparked celebrations in the Scottish camp.

McGhie and team-mates were sitting in Athlone Stadium in Cape Town watching the final game.

The 20-year-old told Courier Sport: “We all went to the game live and let’s just say the last 10 minutes were some nervous ones.

“We had our heads in our hands and our eyes closed for the last few minutes!”

McGhie’s performances over the last 12 months also saw her in the running for World Rugby Women’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year.

The award was eventually won by New Zealand winger Katelyn Vahaakolo but McGhie was delighted to have been in the running.

She said: “Being nominated was a total surprise, actually. I was so proud to even be nominated.

“It was incredible and so unexpected.”