Loughborough Lightning‘s start to the PWR: The Cup campaign has been labelled a ‘rollercoaster’ experience by head coach Nathan Smith.
Having gone down to a narrow home loss to Sale Sharks in Round 1, Smith’s side cut loose to thrash Leicester Tigers before being on the receiving end of a heavy scoreline at the weekend, as an experienced Saracens side left Loughborough University with a 14-59 away win.
Already without 14 internationals away at the Rugby World Cup, Smith lost captain Daisy Hibbert-Jones to injury in midweek while training with England, and dual-registration hooker Polly Peterson was withdrawn from the matchday squad the morning of the Saracens game.
“It feels like a bit of a rollercoaster at the moment,” said Smith. “Firstly, I’ve got to say Saracens were really good. They are a really experienced PWR team and I think that showed at times.
“In the first half, I was frustrated with our energy as a group. However, in the second half our energy definitely improved.
“We are a young team and we will use these kind of experiences to build for the future. We’re having some great moments in games, we just need to put that into an 80-minute performance.”
Nathan Smith, Loughborough Lightning head coach
Lightning’s brightest moment at the weekend was Cieron Bell’s scintillating interception that saw her run home from inside her own half. It kept the young Scotland winger’s record up of scoring in each of Loughborough’s games so far this term.
It has been a sparkling return to the side having featured in the opening two rounds of the 2024/25 Premiership Women’s Rugby campaign before working her way back into contention this term.
“Cieron’s try was great,” added Smith. “She has done really well during the Cup period. That’s what this competition is all about, it is about presenting opportunities for young players to stake a claim and Cieron is doing that, week after week, long may that continue.“
Lightning’s final game of their PWR: The Cup block comes on Saturday 13 September (kick-off: 2pm) against Bristol Bears at Shaftesbury Park.
Like Lightning, they have experienced a big win against Tigers, and a heavy loss to Saracens.
“We can’t control what happened against Saracens, but we can control how we turn up this week and prepare for the trip to Bristol,” added Smith. “Like us they have a very young team during this Cup block so it should make for an intriguing game.
“We’ve got some good recent memories of playing at Shaftesbury Park but we know this game will be completely different in terms of personnel. I am hoping that we can finish this Cup block off with a really positive performance. We know it is going to be tough down there.”
Loughborough Lightning’s next home game will be in Premiership Women’s Rugby action on Sunday 2 November (kick-off: 1pm) at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens. The match is included in a Lightning Season Ticket which are still available HERE, priced* from just £65 (adult) and £30 juniors.
*Season Ticket prices are subject to a booking fee of £2.50 per Season Ticket, plus £10 admin fee for Direct Debit.
