Head coach Nathan Smith was full of pride for his Loughborough Lightning side as they clawed back a 19-point deficit to defeat Harlequins and move up to fifth in the Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby table.
In as many minutes, Lightning were 19-0 down after Shaunagh Brown bagged a brace of tries along with one more from Lagi Tuima. But the African Violets didn’t lie down and went into the break just seven points behind as Georgina Tasker crossed the line twice and Kathryn Treder got her first of the encounter.
Bo Westcombe-Evans and Hallie Taufoou struck after the break to secure a try-scoring bonus point and the lead with 25 minutes remaining, only for Aseza Hele to counter and seemingly break Lightning’s hearts with Quins’ fourth of the afternoon.
But a compelling contest ended as hooker Treder drove over in the 78th minute for her second try – and fifth in as many games – to secure a 29-26 victory for Smith’s side.
He said: “I am immensely proud of the group, and I told them that after the game. I said to them that I couldn’t explain how proud I am for them to back from 19-0 down. It wasn’t even about winning the game, it was about showing the character to be able to get back in the game, and give ourselves an opportunity of winning.
“After 20 minutes of not performing how we should have been, it’s very hard to turn that around mentally, but the strength of the group was plain for everyone to see after 25 minutes.”
Having taken the lead in the 55th minute after being so far behind, Lightning had to come back once more in the dying embers to seal the victory and Smith explained his confidence in the squad to get the result over the line.
“When you come from such a deficit, you know you might need to do that (come from behind once more)," he said. “Quins were never going to lie down after scoring 19 points quite emphatically. I was just pretty confident that if we got into the right areas of the field, then we would convert our opportunities.
“I feel like our conversion rate is improving in the red zone week on week, and when we get in there, we have multiple different ways of scoring tries.”
Two of Lightning’s five tries at The Stoop came through driving mauls, and along with a strong scrum, Smith was impressed with his side’s set piece.
“Having a strong set piece is a huge part of a team performance,” he added. “I thought the forwards did extremely well when we were five metres out, and took our opportunities and we were pretty clinical in that area.’’
Nathan Smith, Loughborough Lightning head coach
In the absence of the injured Helen Nelson, Helena Rowland stepped in at fly-half for the second time this season and produced a performance that was key to Lightning’s win on the road.
“I also thought that Helena controlled the game really well,” Smith said. ‘She put us in the right areas of the field, she ran when she had to, and kicked when she needed to, which in the end, provided the forwards with those set piece opportunities. So, the set piece was going in the right direction, but after the first 20 minutes, our strategy to get into those scoring areas was really good as well.
“It feels like things are starting to click. Are we anywhere near where I want us to be? Of course we are not. But we are definitely moving forward, and I hope we continue to go in that direction as the season progresses.”
Attentions now turn to Trailfinders Women on Saturday 20 January (kick-off: 2pm) as Lightning are back at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens looking to secure back-to-back Allianz PWR wins for the first time this season.
“Ealing are a great side,” Smith said. “We are really excited for the challenge, especially at home. To win the game, we will need to have one of our best performances of the season.
“But if we build on the performances of the last few weeks, and take the best bits of them games and bring those into this weekend, then we will have a great opportunity of having a good performance.”
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