The family of tragic Stirling County and Scotland rugby star Siobhan Cattigan have blasted a tribute to her memory at the weekend’s Six Nations match between Scotland and Ireland.
The 26-year-old from Callander, who had 19 caps for her country, died in November 2021 with her family looking for answers into the circumstances of her passing.
They have led calls for an independent inquiry and have alleged that rugby-related brain trauma played a role after Siobhan received two concussions on international duty in February 2020 and March 2021.
Ahead of Sunday’s match at Murrayfield, Siobhan’s image was beamed on to the big screen to applause from the crowd, alongside a superimposed image of a number 8 shirt emblazoned with her nickname ‘Shibby’.
But in a statement on social media, Siobhan’s parents Neil and Morven said the SRU had refused various requests made for the tribute, including that it be made when the players were present on the pitch.
In the statement, they say the lack of accommodation to the family’s requests was “dishonourable” and said the SRU had made the decision not to include the tribute when the players were present due to being “unwilling to disrupt pre-match preparations”.
After the message on the big screen and the ovation from the sell-out crowd, her mother Morven tweeted tributes to attendees.
Morven wrote: “We’re struggling to put our feelings into words but, from the bottom of each and every one of Siobhan’s families’ broken hearts, thank you so much. We felt the love, we felt the respect, we felt the collective hug from the #rugbyfamily today. Tears have not stopped falling but thanks to those 67,000 people watching #SCOvIRE and the millions at home we know our baby has finally been honoured.
“Not by those who wanted Siobhan erased but by those who have called out the injustice and carried us through our pain with empathy, solidarity and love #remembersiobhan”.
The tribute was also mentioned during the live BBC coverage of the match, with presenter Gabby Logan explaining the family’s anger over the message, before adding: “It’s a tragic story. Our thoughts are with Siobhan’s family and friends.”
