O’Donnell: Work to be done for return to Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby action

Loughborough Lightning sealed fifth spot in the Allianz Cup on Saturday afternoon with a 26-22 (48-34 on aggregate) second-leg victory over Sale Sharks at cinch stadium at Franklin’s Gardens. 

But second row Cath O’Donnell insists there are areas for improvement before the African Violets dive back into league action in two weeks’ time, when they welcome Gloucester-Hartpury to the Gardens.

Four tries in all from the hosts through Abby Duguid, Maja Meuller, Bo Westcombe-Evans and a penalty try were enough to see them over the line as they clinched fifth place in this season’s Cup competition. Sale made it hard for the hosts, but O’Donnell admitted that they didn’t help themselves.

“We didn’t have enough ball in the first 40,” she said. “We were just defending for the majority of the time. Defensively we needed it get off the line quicker and make bigger hits and stop the offloads in the tackle.

“We also didn’t start the game the way we wanted to. Our emotional energy wasn’t where it needed to be, we needed to feed off each other’s energy and up the intensity.

“We came out in the second half with a slightly different mindset, but again, I don’t think that we kept the intensity where it needed to be so there is a lot of work to be done before we get back into league action.”

Lightning’s Cup campaign saw them pick up two victories in the pool stage, with an impressive away win against Harlequins and a victory at home against Ealing Trailfinders, along with narrow losses to Gloucester-Hartpury and Saracens.

Those results then set them up for a two-legged fifth-place play-off against Sale Sharks, which they came out of victorious with a 48-34 score over the two games.

Nathan Smith’s side will now set their sights on the return of Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby, and with Loughborough hosting Gloucester-Hartpury at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday 12 May (kick-off: 3:00pm), the England international is relishing the opportunity.

“Gloucester will be a massive game. They are a really physical side so our game needs to go up a couple of notches for that.

“We absolutely love playing at the Gardens, its such a good vibe. All the fans are lovely and it’s a great venue to play in.”