Stand-in skipper Lana Skeldon hoping to see Scottish women’s rugby team make most of time out to bounce back from two W6N thumpings on trot

Head coach Sione Fukofuka’s tourists were beaten 41-14 away to Italy in Parma on Saturday, a week on from being given an 84-7 hiding at home to England at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium, leaving them second from bottom of the championship table, on four points from three fixtures.

Stand-in skipper Skeldon’s Scots gave their Italian hosts a 34-0 head-start at the weekend, going in at half-time 29-0 down and conceding a further try after the break, though they did manage to rally round as the match went on, touching down two consolation tries.

Hooker Skeldon scored one of them, her 21st for her country, on 51 minutes and replacement tighthead prop Molly Poolman got the other, her first, on 73, both converted by fly-half Helen Nelson.

Touching down for their hosts in front of a crowd of 4,787 at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi were Alyssa D’Inca and Vittoria Zanette at the double, Aura Muzzo, Vittoria Vecchini and Giordana Duca, with Michela Sillari adding three conversions.

Hawick’s Skeldon, 32, was called on to take over captaincy duties for the first time after the Scots were hit by a late injury to Rachel Malcolm, necessitating a back-row reshuffle, with Rachel McLachlan switching from No 7 to No 8 and Alex Stewart starting at openside flanker instead of on the bench.

The Borderer was insistent that her impromptu promotion was a positive experience despite the scoreline taking her side’s on-field points difference to -99, saying: “Obviously a reshuffle like that is different, but it is also an opportunity for other people to come in and show what they are about and I think they did a great job.

“For me, to come in as captain is an opportunity I didn’t think would ever come about.

“I have learnt a lot from that, and going forward, that will pay dividends if we end up in a similar situation, even if it is just to be able to assist Rachel better.

“She does a fantastic job, and to be able to help her a bit more would be beneficial for the team.”

Skeldon was one of two Borderers in Saturday’s starting line-up and she was full of praise for the other, Jedburgh’s Chloe Rollie at full-back, saying: “Chloe, at the back, brought her experience and her voice, which helped us out, especially defensively. I can’t see all those pictures up front and she can from the back. That really helped. She really stepped up.”

Next up, after a weekend off, is a visit from second-placed France to Edinburgh’s Hive Stadium on Saturday, May 9, with kick-off at 4.15pm, and Skeldon is hoping her squad can make the most of that time out as they bid to get back to winning ways after opening their tournament with a 24-19 victory away to Wales in Cardiff on Saturday, April 11.

“I don’t think we are quite there yet, and we haven’t put an 80-minute performance together yet,” she said.

“We have seen glimpses in the last three games of what we are capable of, and it is quite exceptional when we get it right, but we are just working to get that 80-minute performance and it is not there yet.

“We just didn’t execute what we wanted to in the first 20 minutes. We struggled to get a foothold to begin with but then we grew into the game.

“I think that’s something we’re looking to build on at the moment, that full 80-minute performance,

“The fallow week is a good chance to reset for any team, whether you are winning or losing. To play three on the bounce is quite a tough task. We will go into that, reset, recover and come back stronger.”

Rollie, 30, added: “First of all, we have to reset.

“We all have to look back on the game and see where we went wrong and what we can do to fix it, and then I think when it comes to our fallow week, we’ve got a couple of days’ training and we’ll really focus on how we can fix those little mistakes that we made and get some details brushed up.

“Come France week, we’ll just be flat out focusing on everything that we can do to pick them apart and give ourselves our best chance to get that win and get those points on the board.”

Both Bristol Bears’ Skeldon, now on 87 caps, and Toulon Provence Mediterranee’s Rollie, on 84, put in full shifts in Italy, after doing similarly versus the English. Rollie also played for all 80 minutes in Wales, though Skeldon went off on 71, with Elis Martin replacing her.

Following France’s visit, the Scots conclude their tournament away to Ireland in Dublin on Sunday, May 17, at 2.30pm.