A FORMER Helensburgh Rugby Club youth player has been named in the Scotland squad for the women’s Rugby World Cup next month.

Anne Young, who went to school at Hermitage Academy, is part of a squad of 32 players who will set off for New Zealand on September 23.

The 22-year-old has two Scotland caps to her name, having become the first former Helensburgh player in the history of the club to win a full Scotland cap when she made her debut at loosehead prop in the 36-12 win over Japan in Edinburgh last November.

Her second cap came in the 24-19 defeat to Wales in the Six Nations Championship at Cardiff Arms Park in April.

Anne's selection, announced by Scottish Rugby on Thursday, sparked a flood of goodwill messages on social media.

Posting on the Helensburgh Rugby Club page on Facebook, Anne’s former coach, Iain Fletcher, said: “Massive congratulations to Anne. We’ll all be cheering you on.”

And the club’s present-day youth convener, Ian Smith, described it as a “fantastic achievement”.

Victoria Fletcher added: "Huge congratulations Anne. Well deserved recognition of all your hard work and commitment. Delighted for you."

We reported following Anne’s Scotland debut last November how she took up rugby as a member of the Helensburgh RFC minis’ section at the age of 10 – and while rules on boys and girls playing mixed rugby kicked in two years later, forcing the youngster to look elsewhere for a place to play, she has remained a big part of the Helensburgh rugby family ever since.

The graduate of the University of Edinburgh is now part of the Heriot’s Rugby set-up in the capital.

Following confirmation on Thursday of the players who will don the dark blue for the tournament, coach Bryan Easson said: “We are all incredibly excited for the month ahead.

“I think it’s been a long time coming and it was exactly this time last year that we were in Italy trying to qualify for the Rugby World Cup so it’s been a year in the making.

“I’m hugely honoured to be naming our squad for the Rugby World Cup and I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone in the management team who has worked incredibly hard behind the scenes to get us to this point.

“A lot of discussions have been had, a lot of players have been played over the past year as well, so the process around that was to make sure we had the right players going.

“Selection has been tough as the players trained exceptionally hard over the summer, and then obviously getting the players back from the Commonwealth Games has been exciting for us as well.

“Everyone should feel incredibly proud of being selected for the tournament and I know the squad and management are ready for the challenge ahead.”

Scotland’s first pool match in the tournament is against Wales in Whangarei on Sunday, October 9 (KO 5.45am UK time).

They’ll then face Australia on October 15 (KO 3am UK time) and reigning champions and hosts New Zealand on October 22 (KO 4.45am UK time).

All of Scotland's pool fixtures will be broadcast on the ITV main channel and will be available on STV Player and the ITV Hub.