Head Coach Nathan Smith gave a reminder of how far his Loughborough Lightning side has come in the aftermath of their home defeat to Bristol Bears.
Sunday’s agonising 21-24 loss came despite the African Violets leading for more than half of the cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens encounter.
Lightning’s first home league reverse in more than a year was a marked improvement on the three most recent Premiership Women’s Rugby head-to-heads between these two sides in Northampton, across which Bristol averaged just under 50 points scored per game in a hat-trick of resounding wins.
This was an altogether different affair as the hosts turned down a routine penalty kick to level the scores late on to go in pursuit of maximum points, and ultimately came up just short.
“I could live with losing like that, I couldn’t live with it last week [against Exeter] because we didn’t fire a shot,” said Smith. “I felt we played some really good stuff at times.
“Bristol, historically, put a big score on us when they play here. We have not got a good record here against Bristol over the last two years and we have got it to the point where we are highly competitive against the big-financed teams within the league.”
Having won the past two meetings between these sides – both on the road at Shaftesbury Park – hopes were high for a first home win against the Bears since the 2021/22 season.
One of the survivors from that 17-14 victory, Sadia Kabeya, grabbed her sixth try of the season and was joined on the scoresheet by Rachel Ehrecke and Daisy Hibbert Jones – with the latter striking early into the second half to open a 16-point lead, with Helen Nelson slotting all three kicks.
But in the final half-an-hour, Bristol grew into the game with Millie David adding to her first-half try with another finish in the second, sandwiched by an Evie Gallagher effort and Emma Orr being put through by former World Player of the Year, Ruahei Demant, in the 67th minute to land what was ultimately the deciding score of the contest.
“We lost a little bit of composure in the second half,” reflected Smith. “I felt that in the first half we didn’t take enough of our opportunities. We should’ve built a greater lead.
“I spoke to the girls about making sure we are as clinical as we have been when we get into their 22. Also defensively, I think we knocked off a bit. There was two or three errors there and ultimately against a good team, that costs us.
“We scored a great try early on and then maybe we thought the job was done and let them back into the game. The momentum flipped and fair play to Bristol for getting over the line in the end.”
Lightning take a break from action this week before return returning to take on Sale Sharks at Morson Stadium on 7 March and then a return to cinch Stadium for the showdown with Harlequins under the Friday Night Lights on 13 March – tickets are available by clicking HERE.
“We’re looking forward to what promises to be two really exciting games,” added Smith. “There’s a group of teams between third and eighth who are taking points off of each other on a weekly basis and it all bodes well for a really interesting run-in to the end of the season.”