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 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 ...

Club career

Skeldon began her club career playing at Tennent’s Women’s Premier League side,

Watsonians Watsonian Football Club is a rugby union club based in Edinburgh and part of the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is connected with George Watson's College as a club for former pupils, and changed its policy in the 1980s to be a fully open club, ...

. 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 Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

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 Chloe Rollie (born 26 June 1995, Edinburgh) is a Scottish international rugby union footballer who currently plays as a full-back for Exeter Chiefs Women in the Premier 15s, as well as the Scottish national team. International career Rolli ...

. 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 The 2020 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 19th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between six European rugby union national teams. Matches were originally scheduled for February and ...

, which was disrupted due to COVID-19. She was also part of the squad for the

, playing in all three matches against England, Italy and Wales.

Personal life

The former pupil of

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of ...

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 The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

. Lana is a passionate advocate for

women's rugby Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Rugby was originally a men's sport, and women's rugby has become p ...

, and spoke about this in an interview with ITV in 2020 for

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

. 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

External links

Profile Page
at Scottish Rugby {{DEFAULTSORT:Skeldon, Lana 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