Head coach Nathan Smith believes Loughborough Lightning will take valuable learnings from their opening round loss to Bristol Bears that will serve them well in the future.
The visitors to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens registered a tryscoring bonus point inside 13 minutes with Reneeqa Bonner running in a hattrick.
But a largely youthful and inexperienced Lightning side responded well to only be outscored by three tries to four across the remainder of the Premiership Women’s Rugby opening round encounter to eventually lose 46-19.
“For a period we were a bit like rabbits caught in the headlights,” said Smith. “It is always going to be a little bit hairy in the first 20 minutes, but I didn’t expect what we got.
“However, fair play to Bristol, I thought they were really good moving the ball and we were slow to adapt to that. Once we had adapted to that, then after that opening period, it was reasonably even.
“Of course I am disappointed, however there is loads of good learnings to take from it and also some good experience in the bank for some of the younger players.”
Nathan Smith
Four members of the matchday squad made their Lightning debuts, five were in a PWR starting line-up for the first time while four of the replacements played their first minutes in the competition.
Hooker Lucy Calladine, whose previous top-flight experience was three minutes from the bench back in May 2024 against Gloucester-Hartpury, was amongst those making her first PWR start.
The former England Under-20s player scored a try in each half and went the distance of the energy-sapping encounter.
“Lucy is one you might forget it is her first Premiership start,” Smith said of the 21-year-old. “She is a high potential hooker in the England Pathway and Loughborough Lightning. We are really pleased with her contribution today. It’s probably a little bit unfair from my perspective to make her go the 80!
“The match was full of milestones and individually, there’s many reasons for players to be proud as they took the next step in their careers. It’s just unfortunate that collectively there wasn’t as much for us to celebrate, but we will learn from it as a group and come back stronger for the experience.”
Next up for Lightning is a trip to Trailfinders Women on Sunday 13 October (kick-off: 12.45pm) before returning to the Gardens for PWR Round 3 against Sale Sharks on Saturday 19 October (kick-off: 2pm) – tickets are available priced from £7.50 adults and £3* children by clicking HERE.
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