Almost two years since her last professional appearance, England international Laura Keates returned to the field for the first time for Loughborough Lightning on Saturday.
The prop made her debut for the Club as a second-half replacement in Lightning’s 26-22 victory over Sale Sharks in the second leg of the Allianz Cup fifth-placed play-off – in which Loughborough prevailed 48-34 across the duo of matches.
The 35-year-old’s last league appearance came in Worcester Warriors colours exactly one year, 11 months and 13 days previously – back in May 2022 – as her former side beat Sale Sharks 51-26 the 2021/22 season.
With 62 England caps to her name, as well as a 2014 Rugby World Cup winners’ medal, she suffered an ACL injury in the postponed 2021 Rugby World Cup, and before she had fully rehabilitated, Warriors were withdrawn from the 2023/24 Allianz Premiership Women]s Rugby season.
So, being back on the field meant everything.
“It was incredible to be able to just step on the pitch again,” she said. “Obviously, it has been such a long time and I have tried not to overthink it, but it is nice to get that first game back out of the way and now focus on developing.
“It has been such a long time. There has been a lot of hard work to get back onto the field, especially after a second ACL injury.
“I can’t explain how nice it is to just be back on the pitch and out playing with the girls.”
Laura Keates
Having been out of the game for such a long period of time, rehabilitation and preparation was all about checking off goals along the way for Keates in the run up to her return to the pitch last weekend.
And after arriving in Loughborough earlier this season, the front-row forward is thoroughly enjoying her time in Lightning colours so far.
She said: “It was a bit weird being back finally. Obviously, I have known that it might be this game for a while, but I have had some markers to tick off so I have been going one step at a time.
“Once I had ticked off those markers and I knew it was going to be this game, it was about getting through Tuesday and Thursday’s training sessions and then trying not to overthink it too much. I just wanted to get all the detail right and get out on the pitch.
“Everyone here has been really good. When I first arrived, everyone was very welcoming, really supportive, and it is a really good set-up.
“It has just been really nice to be part of this team, and you can only get to be part of a team once you have played a game, so it’s great to get that under my belt and now keep moving forward.”
Laura Keates
With the Allianz Cup coming to a close over the weekend and Lightning sealing fifth place, it’s now back to league action – the African Violets have four Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby games remaining, starting with Gloucester Hartpury back at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday 12 May (kick-off: 3:00pm).
Keates added: “The PWR is one of the best leagues in the world. It is such an intense competition, and it’ll be great to get back into it and get back and play against some of the best players in the world.”
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