Loughborough Lightning’s formal agreement with Buckingham RUFC has been extended after a successful first season in 2024/25.
Lightning and Swans enjoyed a strong working relationship prior to it being formalised a year ago, with former Buckingham player Tiwaah Adjei-Ansere making the step up to Premiership Women’s Rugby with Lightning – and making five appearances so far.
During the most recent campaign, those links grew stronger with joint training sessions being held as well as training games.
Lightning also sent players to Buckingham to gain game time, while others made the opposite move to help supplement training numbers at Loughborough, especially during international periods when Lightning can be without more than 20 players.
“I am really delighted on a personal level and from a Loughborough Lightning perspective that the formal agreement with Buckingham Swans has been renewed,” said Lightning Head Coach Nathan Smith. “It is mutually beneficial for both parties.
“What I love about Buckingham, it is such a well-run club. Mikey [Clark] and his team do such a fantastic job, especially getting three teams out and the success that they have had over the course of the past two years has been really impressive.
“Buckingham provide an opportunity for some of our younger players to get some experience of adult rugby, which I think especially within the front five is really, really important.“
Nathan Smith, Loughborough Lightning Head Coach
“But then also they have helped us out, especially at this time of year when we go into preseason, where you may not have as many numbers as you would usually have due to international call-ups, it provides us with training numbers. This is not only invaluable to the development of our players, but the development of their players as well.”
Buckingham Swans 1st XV have secured highest-ever league finishes year-on-year as they backed up a fourth place in Women’s Championship North 1 in 2023/24 by coming third in 2024/25 – with 18 more league points to their name.
Buckingham Swans 2nd XV lost only one league game in 2024/25 as they finished top of Women's NC 2 Midlands (Central). They also went all the way to Allianz Stadium, Twickenham and lifted the National Junior Cup!
“We are delighted to extend our relationship with Loughborough Lightning,” said Buckingham RUFC Swans Head Coach Mikey Clark. “It has been fantastic what we have achieved this year, working really closely with Nathan to explore pathways and opportunities.
“I am quite excited about the 2025/26 season, we have entered three teams into the league structure. Our minis and under-10s are coming into the club next year as well as two Under-16 teams and our Under-18s coming up into senior rugby.
“We are really thriving off the back of the agreement that we have got with Loughborough.”
Mikey Clark, Buckingham Women’s Head Coach
Buckingham players Polly Peterson and Emily Partridge have spent time with Lightning previously and are set to join up with them during their pre-season training, which starts on Monday 23 June.
Winger/centre Partridge, aged 27, said: “By training with Loughborough I got that exposure to a higher level and got to see where I could really push my rugby to. It has been fantastic training with the internationals that are there and those players who can teach me a lot more about my rugby. Through that, Nathan gave me the opportunity to come down to preseason and see where my rugby career can really go.”
Hooker Peterson, aged 21, said: “When I came out of university I want to play at a high level somewhere local to me. That’s how I found Buckingham. It has been absolutely brilliant with the opportunities they have provided with the agreement with Loughborough. I’ve trained with Lightning a couple of times which has been really good and I am looking forward to taking that further this season.”
