“I get to play my favourite sport in the world on the international stage, I’m living my wildest dreams right now.”

Victoria Halstvedt is 5ft 2in of grit, charisma, and pure sincerity. Tiny, covered in tattoos, wearing her specs, and disarmingly warm, 23-year-old Vic, as she insists everyone calls her, certainly does not look like your average rugby player, but that is where the stereotypes end.

From her courage to her relentlessness, she is everything you would want in a player, which is precisely why Norway’s senior international team were desperate to snatch her from Falkirk.

National Rugby Day was marked across the UK last month, but no one celebrated harder than Vic who used the occasion to reflect on the journey that carried her to the international stage.

Growing up in Falkirk, her childhood was shaped by competitive swimming and running, with an early determination to prove herself. By the time she entered Denny High School, that enthusiasm had dwindled, until a PE teacher suggested she try rugby at his local club.

“My dad played at Lenzie Rugby Club, so having his support, as well as my PE teacher’s, gave me the confidence to go along,” Vic says. “But I fell in love with it straight away.

“Before rugby, I only ever competed against myself, so to suddenly be part of a team with 14 other girls consistently supporting me was such a refreshing change and it made me enjoy sports again.”

Vic flourished at Lenzie, favouring the backline at full-back or winger where her insane speed was a huge asset, or as her teammates put it more succinctly: “That’s Vic, she’s fast as f**k.”

Those skills did not go unnoticed as Vic was invited to Scotland’s under-16 and under-18 pathway programmes.

“I had just left school at 16 and was working full-time,” she says. “So, trying to trek to Murrayfield Stadium regularly was just too much. It was an amazing opportunity, but the timing just wasn’t right.”

While a Scottish international career was not on the cards for Vic at that point, her passion for club rugby never wavered, as when she joined Glasgow Caledonian University for her physiotherapy degree, she joined the women’s team there too.

Everything was perfectly in place: her degree, club rugby, university rugby, and yet it was not until Vic spotted the Norway senior team was holding an open trial that she realised this was the piece of her life she had been missing.

Vic playing for Glasgow Caledonian University Women’s Rugby Team

“As you can probably tell from my surname, I’m not fully Scottish,” she says, smiling. “My papa is full Norwegian, my dad is half, so that makes me a quarter Norwegian, and I absolutely love having that other side to my family and upbringing.

“I go over most summers to visit my family just outside Oslo, in a town called Askim, so I’ve grown up feeling really comfortable there and embracing that part of my culture.”

On March 17 2025, Vic saw an Instagram post announcing open trials for Norway’s newly revived 15-a-side senior team, and something lit up inside her.

“I saw the post and immediately wanted to jump on a plane to Oslo, but I had exams during the trial dates, which was so frustrating,” she says. “So, I ended up emailing them and sending a message on Instagram, just praying they’d see one, explaining how I was eligible to play for Norway through my papa and that I would love to try out but just couldn’t come on those specific dates.

“Miraculously, they actually got back to me and asked to see some videos of me playing, and somehow, by sheer luck, I was invited to their following closed selection camp,” says Vic.

The turnaround was swift, she says: “It was only a couple of weeks after that initial email, but by April 10th I was on a plane, desperately scrubbing up on my limited Norwegian and ready to play my heart out for the opportunity.”

Vic left everything on the training pitch, knowing what was at stake and how badly she wanted it, and when she finally discovered she had been selected, the feeling was pure disbelief.

“The whole process was such a whirlwind, but I couldn’t be more proud of myself for taking this opportunity and seeing it through, and to say I’m getting a senior intonational cap is pretty cool,” says Vic.

Her debut for Norway came soon after on May 10 against Latvia, and Vic is still in awe, she says: “It was just insane, is the only way I can put it, I was in a complete daydream the whole time, barely believing I was actually there, it was just magical.

“I mean, we lost 27-0 to Latvia, but we did not care in the slightest, all I could think was: I get to wear an international strip, I get to play my favourite sport in the world on the international stage, I’m living my wildest dreams right now,” she says.

Not only did this experience elevate her rugby career, but it also brought her closer to her Norwegian roots.

“I could barely speak Norwegian before, I didn’t even know the national anthem before the first game, if you watch the video, I’m just mumbling trying to look like I know the words,” she laughs.

“So, to gel with the team, I had to pick up the language quickly and learn all the plays and calls to shout them on the pitch in Norwegian,” says Vic. “Even now, heads whip around when they hear my terrible attempts in my strong Falkirk accent, and they probably have no idea what I’m saying but at least the sentiment is there.

“It’s honestly brought me so much closer to that side of my life, like I always grew up celebrating my Norwegian heritage and the traditions, but living in Scotland, I feel slightly disconnected from it,” she says. “This opportunity has inspired those patriotic feelings in me as I’m so proud to be both Norwegian and Scottish.”

Vic with the Norwegian Women’s Rugby Team

Her second game against Denmark became one for the history books when Vic scored one of her most important trys yet.

“I think I blacked out,” she says. “The opposition tried to kick the ball right before their try line, so I simply picked it up to stop them.

“Then I just started running, and I dodged one tackle and then another, thinking surely someone would hit me soon, but no. Next thing I was mid-pitch, absolutely booking it for my life with 15 Danish girls chasing me, unsure of where my backup was, just praying I wouldn’t drop the ball or get hit,” she says.

As soon as she crossed the try line the emotions hit Vic hard.

She says: “I slammed the ball on the ground and about five of us burst out crying. Me, probably because I’d just sprinted the full length of the pitch, but also because we’d worked so hard and deserved points, it was this incredible wave of relief.”

The try was monumental, being the first Norway women’s team had scored in 15 years.

“I was still holding the ball, shaking, when someone told me it was the team’s first try in so long and I just couldn’t believe it,” she says. “It still doesn’t feel real that it was me who helped them achievement this.”

Vic returned home a local celebrity, celebrated by her club and university teams who could not be prouder, but she slipped straight back into her studies, work, and, of course, rugby training, as humility, it seems, comes naturally to her.

Despite her historic try and international debut, self-doubt still creeps in.

“I definitely get massive imposter syndrome,” she admits. “The nights before a game I wonder why am I here? Why did they pick me? I know I’ve worked hard, and that they wouldn’t have picked me if I wasn’t good, but I still ask myself, why me?”

To manage her stress, Vic reminds herself why she was chosen, she says: “I have to tell myself I’m literally being silly, that I deserve this and it’s not just luck. Sure, I’m lucky in a lot of ways, but I also need to give myself credit for the hard work I’ve put in.”

Looking to the future, Vic’s focus is clear, she says: “I’d love to continue playing rugby alongside my physiotherapy career for as long as I can, but it’s hard balancing all the training, games, gym sessions, my studies, and soon a full-time job as I finish uni, but right now, I’m just so content.”

Vic truly could not imagine her life without rugby.

“It brings so much friendship, socialisation, and pure joy, but mainly fulfilment: you truly don’t know what you’re capable of until you’ve had to put your body on the line during a game or fight your way back from an injury or a tough loss,” she says. “But rugby offers you everything, all...

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