Interim Head Coach Rachel Taylor is looking forward to the ‘physicality and the unknown’ as Loughborough Lightning prepare for a live training session with Buckingham Swans tomorrow (Friday) evening.
A week out from launching their JAECOO PWR Next Gen Cup campaign with a trip to Sale Sharks on Saturday 19 September, the African Violets will benefit from their formal agreement with Buckingham as the two squads lock horns at Buckingham RFC.
It is the second time the squads have trained together following a successful hit‑out at Franklin’s Gardens last month, and Taylor is hoping for more of the same on Friday evening.
“The session we had together at Saints was one of the most physical sessions we’ve had so far this season,” said Taylor.
“To have that opportunity with them is great, and anything to do with units is extremely helpful – because when we train internally, everyone knows the moves. Having that unknown and that level of physicality was really useful at Saints, and we’re hoping Friday will give us a similar opportunity ahead of Sale.
Former Sale Sharks Head Coach Taylor is leading Lightning during the Cup period while Nathan Smith is away on secondment with Canada for the duration of the WXV Global Series.
It is a fast start to her second full season with Lightning, and it is a challenge she is embracing. Taylor explained: “It’s an opportunity to take the young group we’ve had through preseason into their first exposure of the Cup. There’s excitement around the opportunities we can give them, but also the challenge of keeping our eye on the biggest focus point – can we help some of these players transition from the Cup into the PWR league, and can we give those who will return to BUCS rugby the best possible exposure so they’re supporting Loughborough again next season with experiences at a higher demand?
“It’s a great opportunity in the Cup. For some players, it will be the first time they’ve reviewed themselves, reviewed a game model, and that educational piece is quite cool with this group. It also gives us a chance to use some of the more experienced players to introduce them into player/coach roles and build their development and leadership skills, peer‑to‑peer, which is really cool.”
Lightning have many of their senior international players away on WXV Global Series duty, but have welcomed back the likes of captain Daisy Hibbert‑Jones, Carmela Morrall and Keevy Fitzpatrick from the Red Roses camp during preseason to add experience to the squad.
Taylor added: “The challenge is making sure they’re ready to go should they get called back into the Red Roses, but also that they’re developing with this group. That might be off‑pitch or on‑pitch – setting challenges for them, building their robustness and physical capacity – so that come the first round of PWR, they’re ready to rip into Trailfinders.”
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