Loughborough Lightning’s returning internationals answered Nathan Smith’s call to ‘step up’ and help inspire his young squad to a first victory of the season against Sale Sharks.
No fewer than eight players who featured in WXV were involved in Lightning’s matchday squad, with returning Red Roses winger Bo Westcombe-Evans crossing the whitewash twice and USA forward Hallie Taufoou also registered five points.
Further tries were landed by Megan Davey, Evelyn Clarke and Lia Green – who also kicked three conversions – as the African Violets bounced back from losses to Bristol Bears and Trailfinders Women to get their Premiership Women’s Rugby season up and running with a 36-17 victory at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
“There has been a lot of pressure on a lot of young players,” said head coach Smith. “I thought today showed what we can do when we have international players and developing players in the same team. We can put a pretty cohesive performance together.
“The programme is always based on having a mixture of that. I feel if you have a team full of internationals it doesn’t work, if you have a team full of kids, it doesn’t work, the mixture is a really nice blend in the programme and when it fires like it has done today at times, it is impressive.
“At the end of the day I asked them to step up for me [returning internationals]. We needed them today, and they did. I thought Bo was exceptional. She has not trained all week.
”I thought Hallie [Taufoou] was probably the best I’ve seen her play. It was really exciting for the rest of the season.”
Nathan Smith
Many of the matchday squad members who have featured in the opening two rounds also produced brilliant performances. Among them was Becky Boyd, who build on her 25 tackles made against Trailfinders Women to produce a barnstorming display of ball-carrying brilliance.
A feat made all the more remarkable given she was involved in a road traffic collision along with three Lightning teammates less than a year ago that threatened to derail the 20-year-old’s promising rugby career
“She has been through a horrific trauma,” said Smith. “Her performance today was where she was pre-accident. I am just so happy for her, that she can do what she did prior to the accident. It has taken a 12-month period to get to this point.
“The mental toughness and resilience to be able to come out and put a performance like that, I think it is just exceptional and she should be really proud of herself.”
Nathan Smith on Becky Boyd
Having built a sizeable lead, Sale Sharks came back into the game and in the closing passages of the game threatened to grab a fourth try that would’ve seen them return home with a point for their efforts.
But Lightning’s defence stood firm, much to Smith’s delight.
“I was really pleased with how we closed out the game. Sale came knocking the door for a tryscoring bonus point but we held firm and defended the line as a team to ensure they didn't get any points from the fixture.”
Loughborough Lightning’s next home match at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens is the East Midlands Derby against Leicester Tigers on Saturday 23 November (kick-off: 2pm). Early bird discounted rate tickets are available priced from £6 adults and £3 juniors* - to purchase tickets click HERE.
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