Loughborough Lightning took home a bonus point from a 14-try thriller against Harlequins that launched the 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby with a flourish.
Before a bustling Friday night crowd at The Stoop and with more watching on from home on BBC iPlayer’s live stream, Lightning went in at the break 26-28 ahead courtesy of tries from Bo Westcombe-Evans, Sadia Kabeya, Lis Maude and Lucy Calladine.
While Kathryn Treder and Amelia Williams took Loughborough’s try tall to six by the final whistle, Quins matched their 26-point first-half haul in the second period to take home maximum points.
FIRST-HALF:
Lightning launched in to their new season how they finished the last one, on the front foot and attacking from all quarters.
Almost a year to the day since her last PWR game and at the same venue she ruptured knee ligaments, Westcombe-Evans was celebrating a try-scoring return as she scooped up Kabeya’s offload from a sparkling blindside break. Alev Kelter added the conversion.
The visitors’ lead was doubled at the game’s quarter-way point when Helen Nelson kicked to the corner and with their first rolling maul of the new campaign, England U20 hooker Calladine applied the finishing touch. Nelson added the extras to open a 14-point lead.
For all of Lightning’s dominance in both territory and possession, they found themselves all square on the scoreboard ten minutes before the break when Abbie Fleming forced her way over from close range then Beth Wilcock intercepted a pass to canter home from distance.
Lightning lost scrum-half Leia Brebner-Holden to a neck injury and two minutes after coming on in her place, Maude marked her first club appearance in more than a year by latching onto Carmela Morrall’s offload from Westcombe-Evans’ neat grubber to finish.
Three more tries came in as many minutes in a crazy late spell as Quins registered a bonus point after earning a penalty try from a five-metre scrum, then soon after, Lauren Torley finished in the left corner.
The last laugh of the first period was Loughborough’s as Kabeya rolled over from close range, with Nelson adding her third successful conversion that nudged her side two points ahead at the interval.
SECOND-HALF:
Unfortunately, that momentum did not roll over into the start of the second half as Quins struck twice as Nicole Wythe broke off a maul to finish then Claudia Pena picked up a spilt ball to run in from 30 metres out. Her conversion opened a 12-point lead.
That was cut to five entering the final quarter of the game when Loughborough kicked to the corner and Treder patiently finishing from the tail, with Nelson adding a sublime conversion from out wide.
Jade Konkel replied before the game’s moment of magic occurred as 20-year-old prop Williams pulled in offload from inside her own half to score the try of her dreams to the right of the posts.
By this stage, Tahlia Brody had joined fellow American Mae Sagapolu on the field to make their Lightning debuts, and Christine Belisle had arrived on the occasion of her 50th appearance for the club.
Lightning at that stage had two match points in the bag and were sensing a remarkable win on the road. But sadly, it wasn’t to be as the hosts kept their patience in the 22 before Hannah Sims landed the final try of a crazy content.
Loughborough now turn their attentions to a return to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens for their first home game of the 2025/26 PWR season against Sale Sharks on Sunday 2 November (kick-off: 1pm) – tickets are available by clicking HERE.
HEAD COACH NATHAN SMITH:
“I am happy with the performance. Obviously conceding this many points is not where I want to be, however, what I will say is, Quins were exceptional at capitalising on our errors and converting them into points. Once we get a bit more continuity as a team and we have a bit longer as a team, we cut out those errors, we cut out the points that we conceded.”
LINE-UPS:
QUINS: 15 Kildunne, 14 Torley, 13 Pena, 12 Parry, 11 Wilcok, 10 Tuima, 9 Packer; 1 Turani, 2 Powell, 3 Hanlon, 4 McIntosh, 5 Fleming, 6 Wythe, 7 Svoboda, 8 Konkel ©.
Replacements: 16 Phillips, 17 Sims, 18 Delgado, 19, Shirley, 20 Brookes, 21 Burgess, 22 Cromack, 23 Shillaker.
LIGHTNING: 15 Green, 14 Mataitoga, 13 Kelter, 12 Morrall, 11 Westcombe-Evans, 10 Nelson, 9 Brebner-Holden; 1 Young, 2 Calladine, 3 Sagapolu, 4 Boyd, 5 Ives Campion, 6 Hibbert-Jones ©, 7 Kabeya, 8 Lutui.
Replacements: 16 Treder, 17, Williams, 18, Belisle, 19 Brody, 20 Waudby, 21 Maude, 22 Brown, 23 Scantlebury.