Borderer Lana Skeldon reckons Scotland’s women’s rugby team could be selling out Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium within next few years
Hawick’s Lana Skeldon believes Scotland’s women’s national rugby team are on track to sell out Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium by the end of the decade after being cheered on by a record crowd of 30,498 as they were handed an 84-7 hiding by England there on Saturday.
That’s the biggest turnout ever for a stand-alone women’s sporting fixture in Scotland but Skeldon, 32, reckons her team could be pulling in crowds of more than twice that size within the next few years.
Selling out Murrayfield’s 67,144 seats might seem like a tall order but, given how fast women’s rugby has grown since the Borderer made her home international debut in a 69-0 Six Nations loss to France at Bonnyrigg in front of a three-figure turnout 12 years ago, she’s confident it’s achievable within the not too distant future.
“I don’t even think it would have been full,” she recalled.
“When we were at Lasswade, it was never like ‘whoa, there’s a big crowd here’.
“They were loud, don’t get me wrong, but the banking on the far side, for instance, wasn’t full, although the stand itself was.
“To come from that to then being in front of 30,000 people, it’s actually quite mesmerising, to be honest. It’s quite hard to digest at times.”
That match at Lasswade’s Hawthornden ground was part of a tour of grounds across the country this century, including Netherdale at Galashiels for a 20-7 loss to England in 2004, but those venues have been getting bigger over recent years, with a sellout attendance of 7,774 at Edinburgh’s Hive Stadium in 2024 for a 46-0 beating by the English being hailed as a breakthrough for the sport.
“We were in the Hive a few seasons ago not able to sell it out,” reflected Skeldon, looking ahead to bigger numbers yet.
“Now we sell that out and we’re moving into Murrayfield and getting these numbers.
“It’s just going to keep growing.”
Asked if she thinks her team will ever see Murrayfield as packed out as it for men’s Six Nations fixtures, Skeldon said: “I’d love it if that did happen.
“I think we'll get there. I think it’ll just take time.
“In the next three or four years, I can see it happening, given the amount the game’s growing, and I think especially after another world cup, it’ll just grow again.
“I think maybe in four or five years’ time, I can see us selling it out.
“The way the game’s growing, I don’t see why not – I’ll try and hang on for that.
“I thought I’d be gone before this sort of thing came around, so I’m absolutely buzzing that I’m still here.
“I thought we’d have more likely seen it in five years’ time or something, but it’s so good that it’s here now. I’m obviously so grateful to be part of it.”
Saturday’s second-round defeat at Murrayfield followed a crowd of 77,120 watching defending Six Nations and world champions England beat Ireland 33-12 at London’s Twickenham Stadium seven days earlier and Skeldon believes crowds this side of the border will keep growing too, saying: “I think this is where England started at some point and they obviously got 77,000 at the weekend, which is unbelievable.”
The Bristol Bears hooker became Scotland’s joint-third-most-capped player of all time at the weekend, joining Karen Findlay, retired since 2006, on 86 international appearances, and Jedburgh’s Chloe Rollie isn’t far behind her on 83.
Both Skeldon and Toulon Provence Mediterranee full-back Rollie, 30, the only other Borderer in new head coach Sione Fukofuka’s team at the moment, played for the full 80 minutes against the English.
Right-winger Rhona Lloyd scored the sixth-ranked hosts’ only try, converted by fly-half Helen Nelson, with 12 being touched down at the other end of the pitch by their top-ranked visitors, all followed by conversions.
Next up is a trip to Parma to take on Italy this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 5.30pm.
They then play France at home at the Hive on Saturday, May 9, at 4.15pm, before wrapping proceedings up away to Ireland in Dublin on Sunday, May 17, at 2.30pm.
The Scots are targeting their first finish in the top half of the table since 2005, having ended up second from bottom last year on nine points from five fixtures under Fukofuka’s predecessor, Bryan Easson, and two rounds in, they’re fourth, on four points, with England top and France second, both on ten, and the Irish third, on five.