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Lana Skeldon (born 18 October 1993) is a Scottish professional rugby player from Hawick. She has played in multiple Women's Six Nations Championships, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.

Club career

Skeldon began her club career playing at Tennent’s Women’s Premier League side, Watsonians. She began playing for DMP Sharks in the Premier 15s in 2019.

She's been part of a Scottish Schools Cup-winning team on three occasions at U15 and U18 with Gala Girls and won the plate with Melrose Ladies in 2013.

She typically played six in back-row before one of her coaches offered her the chance to play as a hooker. She describes this as a turning point in her career.

In 2021 Skeldon was signed by Worcester Warriors. After Worcester left the Women's Premiership in 2023, she was signed to play for Bristol Bears

International career

Skeldon made her international debut for XVs against the Netherlands in 2011. Before that, she represented Scotland Women U15, U16, U18 and U20. She was eleven when she started playing for Scotland.

Skeldon was named as one of eight ‘2021’ contracted players by Scottish Rugby ahead of the 2018/19 season, enabling her to train full-time.

She was part of the team that defeated Wales at Broadwood in 2017, which she describes as her proudest moment.

Skeldon was also part of the team that defeated Italy in 2017, converting tries for team mate Chloe Rollie.

Skeldon played in the 2019 South African tour, in which the Scottish team won two of its matches, playing for the first time in the Southern hemisphere.

She played in the 2020 Women's Six Nations Championship, which was disrupted due to COVID-19. She was also part of the squad for the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship, playing in all three matches against England, Italy and Wales.

Personal life

The former pupil of Hawick High School spent her teenage years playing football, hockey and rugby before dedicating her time fully to the latter.

Her mother Ann Skeldon played rugby for Hawick Ladies and Skeldon states this as her inspiration for learning the sport. Her father Michael also played rugby, representing Hawick Harlequins.

Before being awarded a Scottish Rugby 2021 contract, she worked in a cashmere factory in Hawick, balancing work with her rugby training commitments.

Based at Borders Academy, she coaches local rugby and studies sport fitness and coaching with the Open University.

Lana is a passionate advocate for women's rugby, and spoke about this in an interview with ITV in 2020 for International Women's Day. In 2020, she was among the Scottish players who took part in a sponsored run in Edinburgh to help promote the sport to more women and girls.

References

1. "Lana Skeldon". Scottish Rugby Union. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
2. "Lana Skeldon". Scottish Rugby Union. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
3. "From weighing jumpers to picking them out - Scotland hooker Skeldon's journey to international rugby". BBC Sport. 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
4. "Lana Skeldon". Scottish Rugby Union. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
5. "Lana Skeldon (Scotland Women's Rugby International): Doing what it takes. by The LTAD Network Podcast • A podcast on Anchor". Anchor. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
6. "Lana Skeldon & Evie Gallagher: Ex-Worcester and Scotland internationals join Bristol". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
7. "My Rugby Life: Lana Skeldon - Women's Six Nations". Six Nations Rugby. 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
8. "Lana Skeldon". www.ultimaterugby.com. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
9. "Lana Skeldon (Scotland Women's Rugby International): Doing what it takes. by The LTAD Network Podcast • A podcast on Anchor". Anchor. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
10. "Scotland award eight contracts". Scrum Queens. 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
11. "Frank, Fearless and Female: Lana Skeldon". ITV News. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
12. "Scotland Women 15-14 Wales Women". BBC Sport. 2017-02-24. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
13. "Women's Six Nations: Scotland 14-12 Italy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
14. Bathgate, Stuart (2020-02-20). "Lana Skeldon believes Scotland are ready to put in complete performance". The Offside Line. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
15. Heatly, Gary (2019-10-05). "South Africa v Scotland: tourists complete the double in style". The Offside Line. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
16. "Putting together missing pieces of 2020 Six Nations". www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
17. "Lana Skeldon feeling optimistic despite Scotland's defeat to England in Six Nations opener". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
18. "Lana Skeldon (Scotland Women's Rugby International): Doing what it takes. by The LTAD Network Podcast • A podcast on Anchor". Anchor. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
19. "I have so much pride playing for Scotland" | My Rugby Life: Lana Skeldon | 2021 Women's Six Nations, retrieved 2021-05-11
20. "Women's Six Nations: Scotland's Lana Skeldon on her mum, cashmere & rugby". BBC Sport. 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
21. "Women's Six Nations: Scotland's Lana Skeldon on her mum, cashmere & rugby". BBC Sport. 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
22. Palmer, Mark. "Lana Skeldon feels benefit of focusing fully on rugby". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
23. "Women's Six Nations: Scotland's Lana Skeldon on her mum, cashmere & rugby". BBC Sport. 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
24. "Frank, Fearless and Female: Lana Skeldon". ITV News. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
25. "Lana puts in the hard yards to benefit game". The Hawick Paper. 2020-12-18. Retrieved 2021-05-11.

External links

• Profile Page at Scottish Rugby

• 1993 births
• Living people
• Scotland women's international rugby union players
• Scottish female rugby union players
• Rugby union players from Melrose, Scottish Borders
• Darlington Mowden Park Sharks players
• Rugby union hookers
• People educated at Hawick High School
• 21st-century Scottish sportswomen