Serene Skeldon won't be intimidated by England

Q: How many matches has Lana Skeldon played for Scotland?

Lana Skeldon has played 85 matches for Scotland and will reach 86 when facing England.

Q: What recent achievement did Scotland's rugby team accomplish?

Scotland's rugby team recently secured a promising win over Wales in Cardiff.

Q: What is the expected crowd size for the Scotland vs England match?

A record crowd of nearly 30,000 is expected at Murrayfield for the match against England.

Q: How has the Scotland rugby team improved since 2011?

Since 2011, the Scotland rugby team has seen significant improvements in resources, player development, and overall team performance.

In her 15 years as a Scotland player, Lana Skeldon has played more games and scored more tries than any of her predecessors in the number two jersey. She's fired over conversions, she's kicked a penalty, she's worn the hooker's jersey 85 times and it'll be 86 times when England visit Murrayfield on Saturday.

She has seen it all. In the beginning, the lows and then the lowest of lows and now, well, a different planet to how it used to be when she came into the team first in 2011.

Scotland are just off the back of a promising win over Wales in Cardiff that followed on from a strong World Cup. Skeldon is in a pretty good place to judge where the team is at and she says it's never been better.

More resources, young blood coming through, a record crowd expected against England - it won't be far off 30,000 they reckon - and a whole lot of excitement among an extremely close group of players.

Skeldon is a survivor of some grim days against England - 32-0, 53-0, 64-0, 80-0 - but she fights on. Age 32 and happy to be called a veteran, she's entering England week on a high after victory at the Principality at the weekend.

Saturday will be different, of course. The arrival of the world champions is always a daunting moment.

Last time they met was at the World Cup; 40-8 to England. A landslide, for sure, but one that contained some really encouraging things for Scotland. Lost in the bottom line, yes, but not to the people who were part of it.

So, Murrayfield. "If you were to ask anyone in the squad, I'm probably the calmest person around on game day," Skeldon says on the BBC Radio Scotland Rugby podcast. "I'm pretty chilled.

"It's not that I don't get nervous. I get nervous in a slightly different way. I'm not visibly nervous, if that makes sense.

"I'm quite good at finding that middle ground. Not too laid back that I look like I don't care but not too excited that I'm over the top.

"I'll be really chilled until the anthems. At that point, that'll be when it hits me. I just want to do people proud."

Scotland are carrying a heap of injuries - England are not exactly injury-free, but they have incredible playing resources. Still, there's momentum behind Scotland after beating Wales in round one.

It was imperfect but important. This is a new coaching group guiding Scotland in a new era. Winning on day one, however flawed, was a terrific beginning.

For Skeldon, days like that are precious. "As I'm getting more caps, it's even more precious than it already was to me," she says. "I don't know how that's possible, but it is.

"Last Saturday at the Principality - the lights, the roof shut, the whole atmosphere - was just incredible. I never thought I'd be able to do something like that. It's these memories that I'll cherish forever."

Scots 'earned a bit of respect'

England will win on Saturday and, barring a massive upset, they will win with a very hefty margin. That's not the game for Scotland, though.

For them, it's about how many shots can they fire, how much trouble can they pose, how accurate and ruthless can they be when opportunities are created and for how long can they hold back the English tide.

"It's just relentless from them," Skeldon says. "They're a very physical team. They're world champions for a reason.

"For us, it's about the small wins. We're obviously watching the scoreboard and we're trying to win the game, but we're just trying to win those small battles as we go and being proud of the performance that we put in.

"We've got to show what we've got because I think, as a team, if you look at us over the last five years, we've grown massively. I'm just excited to have another chance against the best in the world, just to give us a gauge of where we're at."

Is there a danger of a near-invincible England intimidating them? "I don't think so. There's a difference between respecting someone and being intimidated by them. We very much respect them, but we're not intimidated by them.

"We want to challenge them. In the World Cup quarter-final, we gave a really good account of ourselves. We've earned a bit of respect from them."

With respect comes the prospect of England being laser-focused on Murrayfield and that's a scary prospect. For many, but maybe not for Skeldon.

She's been through the worst of what England can throw at her and she's still standing, still improving and still loving every second of the fight.