‘30,000 is unbelievable’: Scotland Women’s Murrayfield moment and the long journey from Lasswade

“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.”

No disrespect to Hawthornden and the good people at Lasswade RFC but women’s rugby in this country has come a long way in 12 years.

On Saturday, Skeldon will win her 86th cap in front of a record-breaking crowd at Murrayfield as Scotland take on world champions England in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations. Her journey mirrors that of the women’s game but even she seems surprised by the strides made in recent years.

They are hoping to break the 30,000 barrier this weekend, which would obliterate the previous record for a Scotland Women’s home game. It also comfortably beats the 18,555 mark set by Scotland’s women’s football team for a match against Jamaica just before the 2019 World Cup.

Saturday’s game at Murrayfield will be the highest attended women’s sporting event in Scotland since the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles which was played over three days and attracted more than 90,000 golf fans.

‘I thought I'd be gone before this sort of thing came around’

“I thought I'd be gone before this sort of thing came around,” says Skeldon. “Don't get me wrong, 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.”

It hasn’t been straightforward and the pathway to Murrayfield’s hallowed turf has been strewn with diversions. Scotland Women have flitted across the country and in the last quarter of a century have hosted England in Dunbar, Galashiels, Aberdeen, Cumbernauld and Glasgow, as well as Lasswade and other Edinburgh venues, Meggetland and Hive Stadium.

Two years ago, a 7,000 sell-out at the Hive was being trumpeted as a breakthrough moment. Now they’ve moved next door and attracted a crowd four times as big. As captain Rachel Malcolm noted, “It’s our stage now”.

Saturday’s attendance will likely be swelled by a large travelling support, keen to see England extend their 34-match winning streak. A crowd of 77,120 turned up at Twickenham last weekend to see the Six Nations champions open their defence of the title with a 33-12 win over Ireland.

Women’s match attracted more than four men’s Euro games combined

That was a remarkable figure in many ways. To put it in perspective, it was bigger than the combined attendance for the four quarter-finals in the men’s Champions Cup which collectively attracted 73,599 spectators last Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

So can Scotland Women continue to grow and perhaps even emulate the numbers that England are attracting? According to Skeldon, they can.

“I think this is where England started at some point,” says the Borderer. “They obviously got 77,000 at the weekend which is unbelievable.

“I think we'll get there. I think it's just time. Obviously, if we get up to 30,000 this weekend that's unbelievable. We were in the Hive a few seasons ago, not able to sell it out. Now we sell that out and now we're moving into Murrayfield, getting these numbers. It's just going to keep growing.”

An occasion to celebrate women's sport in Scotland

Sione Fukofuka, the recently appointed Scotland head coach, wants his players to embrace the occasion. His team are huge underdogs and Scotland haven’t beaten England for 28 years but there is a recognition that Saturday is something to savour, something which can be inspiring, not just for the players in dark blue but future generations watching from the stands and on live TV. It is, says Fukofuka, “a celebration of women's rugby”.

“England is a team that brings out the best in other teams, from my experience,” says the Australian. “Regardless of the result, the opportunity to play the best in the world gives you real insight to where you are.

“And the occasion, you can't hide from that. It's an occasion to celebrate rugby here in Scotland, and women's sport here in Scotland.”

But it’s also a Six Nations match against the Auld Enemy, a fixture that quickens the pulse of any Scot.

The odds are stacked against the home team but this is a squad on an upward trajectory. Under Fukofuka’s predecessor Bryan Easson they reached the quarter-finals of last year’s Rugby World Cup before losing to England, the eventual winners. The Scots opened this season’s Six Nations campaign with a win over Wales in Cardiff last weekend. The England game is a huge step up but Skeldon senses a determination to inspire the big crowd.

“We want to give them something to cheer about, and we want to perform,” she says. “We're going up against the world champions. What better test to have than to try and go out and perform against them?

“We absolutely respect England, they're a fantastic team. They're world champions for a reason, but, like I said, we're going to challenge them and the crowd will get behind that.

“I think if we go out and we perform, then that's what we'll be happy with. We want to put out a performance which I think we saw glimpses of at the World Cup when we played them in the quarter-final. For phases in the game, we had control and we definitely performed in that game, but it's just trying to put more of those moments together.”

Skeldon will become Scotland Women’s third most capped player of all time on Saturday, joining Karen Findlay on 86, and admits her path from Lasswade to Murrayfield is hard to take in.

“To come from that to them being in front of 30,000 people, it's actually quite mesmerising, to be honest. It's quite hard to digest at times, but obviously, I'm just absolutely buzzing.”

How they’ll line up at Murrayfield

Scotland v England, Women’s Six Nations, Murrayfield, Saturday, 1.30pm

Scotland: 15. Chloe Rollie; 14. Rhona Lloyd, 13. Evie Wills, 12. Meryl Smith, 11. Shona Campbell; 10. Helen Nelson, 9. Leia Brebner-Holden; 1. Leah Bartlett, 2. Lana Skeldon, 3. Elliann Clarke, 4. Emma Wassell, 5. Hollie Cunningham, 6. Rachel Malcolm (capt), 7. Alex Stewart, 8. Emily Coubrough. Replacements: 16. Elis Martin, 17. Demi Swann, 18. Molly Poolman, 19. Holland Bogan, 20. Rachel McLachlan, 21. Rianna Darroch, 22. Lucia Scott, 23. Francesca McGhie.

England: Emma Sing; Jess Breach, Megan Jones (capt), Helena Rowland, Ella Kildunne; Zoe Harrison, Lucy Packer; Kelsey Clifford, Amy Cokayne, Maud Muir, Abi Burton, Lilli Ives Campion, Demelza Short, Sadia Kabeya, Maddie Feaunati. Replacements: Connie Powell, Mackenzie Carson, Sarah Bern, Haineala Lutui, Marlie Packer, Flo Robinson, Holly Aitchison, Mia Venner.