Loughborough Lightning Head Coach Nathan Smith shared his pride in his side’s endeavour to secure a five-point victory away against Bristol Bears on Sunday.
The African Violets trailed by five points heading into the break at Shaftesbury Park despite a brace of tries from Mae Sagapolu; however, they came back out for the second period and managed the tricky conditions to perfection to win 19-31, much to the delight of Smith.
“I was really impressed with the girls and how they played the conditions,” Smith said.
“The leadership group at half-time were exceptional with the way they came up with a plan for the wind and how to use that to our advantage. They devised a plan and executed it.
Smith’s praise for his fly-half was well placed as the mercurial Scotland international helped steer her side to the win with a 100% success rate from the tee in tricky, windy conditions, earning herself the Built for Athletes Premiership Women’s Rugby Player of the Match award.
“In the first half, we struggled to get out of our own half a little bit,” Smith continued.
“We were under pressure on our own line, and at the break, we just discussed how we needed to play territory and force them into errors.
“The main thing I said to the players is that any team can go out there and kick the ball, but not every team will have the urgency and endeavour to trap them in the areas that they won’t want to be in, and I thought we did that well.
“Bristol were top four last year, so going away here with an expectation to win and pick up points is a culture shift in the programme, and I’m exceptionally proud.”
The bonus point win strengthens Lightning’s position inside the top four of the PWR table as attention now turns to their festive fixture this Sunday (21 November, kick-off: 2pm) at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, when Trailfinders Women are the visitors.
On the final fixture before the festive break, Smith said: “Heading into Trailfinders at home next weekend, we want to be able to put out a performance that we can be proud of.
“It'll be a completely different game next week, in a stadium, you won’t get that type of wind we had at Bristol, so hopefully we’ll see more of our Lightning brand of rugby next week.”
Tickets for Lightning’s festive fixture against Trailfinders Women are on sale now and are available by clicking HERE.