Smith encouraged by opening Lightning performance

Head coach Nathan Smith was heartened with the fightback of his Loughborough Lightning side in the second half against Gloucester-Hartpury, despite the side’s narrow 19-17 defeat in their Allianz Cup opener.

The women in African Violet trailed 12-5 at the interval after a slow start to the match, but rallied well in the second half to briefly lead the clash – before a breakaway intercept score by last season’s league champions proved decisive at the ALPAS Arena.

Georgina Tasker’s first-half try was cancelled out by Mia Venner’s double, and while Ellen Scantlebury and Maja Meuller both crossed after the break, it was Gloucester’s Emma Sing’s score that won the game.

But even though the result went against them, Smith – in what was his first competitive fixture at the helm for Lightning – tipped his cap to his young side for digging in and finding their way back into the match.

“First half, we just weren’t mentally or physically up to the challenge,” he said. “But second half, we seemed to just click into life, and it was the Lightning team I’d seen in preseason.

“We had 16 students within the team; it’s the first time a lot of them have been involved in the Allianz Cup, and it’s the first time some of them have played senior rugby.

“So, it’s an experience for them. It was a bit of a nervous start understandably, due to the lack of experience, but once they grew into the game, they realised they were up to the challenge.

“The main thing is that we just learned from the first-half performance. If we want to perform that way, then we’re going to be on the wrong end of results. However, if we want to perform like we did in the second half for a consistent 80-minute period, then we’ll be on the right side of results.

“That’s a good message to be honest, because I wouldn’t have wanted to come away with a win and play like we did in the first half. The players need to understand how hard you have to work, and that you can’t just turn it on for a half and expect to win.

“It’s got to be an 80-minute process, so this match was a good learning curve for the girls.”

Amongst a young matchday squad for Lightning on Saturday were debutants Issy Winter and Ellie Roberts, who came off the bench for Loughborough to help turn the tide in the second half.

And Smith was impressed with the attitude of some of the more inexperienced members of his group.

He added: “You learn about them and you learn about them as a rookie. They really impressed me on how they could go from a slow start, and then show the strength of character to come back into the game.

“I’ve been in lots of half-time meetings where you give your opinion and it’s not listened to, but they listened to the signals.

“They also have the strength of character to deliver on them which is one of the best things we can learn about them.”

Loughborough Lightning’s next fixture is at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens this coming Saturday. They host Saracens Women in the second round of the Allianz Cup (kick-off: 5.15pm), as part of the Double Header with Northampton Saints vs Bath Rugby kicking off at 3pm.