Siobhan Cattigan (11 April 1995 – 26 November 2021) was a Scottish rugby union player. She represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in international rugby from 2018 until her death in 2021.

Club career

Cattigan played for Stirling County Ladies. She began playing for the team in 2014, alongside playing for the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

. She captained the team that won the BUCS league in the 2016–17 season. Cattigan played inside centre for her University and Stirling County, before moving into the back-row, usually in position 6 or 8, for both club rugby and for Scotland.

International career

Cattigan was invited to join the Scottish Rugby pathway squad in 2017 and was included in the squad that beat Spain in an uncapped fixture in November 2017. She made her international debut in the

2018 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2018 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2018 RBS Women's Six Nations sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 17th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between six Europ ...

in a match between Wales and Scotland, coming off the bench and into blindside flanker. The team lost 18–17, having fought back from being 13–0 down at the break. She was part of the team that saw an away win against Ireland in the

– their first away win in 12 years. She toured with the Scottish team in South Africa in 2019, winning against the South African team in Cape Town. Cattigan was among the Scottish team selected for the

2021 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 20th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The 2021 tournament was given a change o ...

and started in the first match against England in position 8, with skipper Rachel Malcolm and Rachel McLachlan either side of her. This decision from coach Bryan Easson, saw her replace

Jade Konkel Jade Elizabeth Konkel is a professional rugby union player who plays her club rugby with Harlequins Women in the Allianz Premier 15s. She is a Number 8 and has represented the Scottish national team since 2013. Club career After moving to G ...

's usual position. He explained his decision "She attiganplayed at 8 against Spain a couple of years ago and performed extremely well. Siobhan's always pushed Jade really hard for a starting position anyway, she brings something different." In total, Cattigan made 19 appearances for Scotland. Her final appearance was in a

2021 Rugby World Cup qualifying The qualification process for the 2021 Rugby World Cup began on 9 August 2019 with 12 teams qualifying to the tournament which will be held in New Zealand. The 2021 Rugby World Cup was postponed by one year in March 2021 to 2022 due to the COVID-1 ...

match against

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in September 2021. She did not play in Scotland's November 2021 match against

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Personal life

Cattigan first played rugby at the age of five for McLaren minis in her home town of

Callander Callander (; gd, Calasraid) is a small town in the council area of Stirling, Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. The town ser ...

. The team coach was her father, who was a player at the club. She played the sport from age five until 12, when she started at high school. She then played one season at U15s for Monklands Girls Team, based in Coatbridge but stopped playing rugby for the rest of high school and picked it back up again aged 19 at the University of Stirling. Cattigan received the War Memorial Prize from her high school in recognition of her charity work for Yorkhill Children's Foundation. She studied criminology and sociology at the

and was following this with a masters in sports psychology.

Death

Cattigan died unexpectedly on 26 November 2021. ''

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'' reported that her death was unrelated to

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, contrary to rumours spread on social media by anti-vaccination conspiracy theorists. Her father has said "It had got to the point where she could no longer live with the pain in her head and Siobhan succumbed to an irrational thought and impulsive action."

Honours

Stirling University * BUCS league: 2016–17

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cattigan, Siobhan 1995 births 2021 deaths Scottish female rugby union players Scotland women's international rugby union players Stirling County RFC players Rugby union players from Stirling Rugby union flankers Alumni of the University of Stirling