Lilli Ives Campion labelled this weekend’s showdown with Trailfinders as ‘huge’ as Loughborough Lightning search for a victory that could see them go third in the Premiership Women’s Rugby table entering 2026.
With their next encounter in Northampton not coming until the visit of Bristol Bears on 22 February, a victory in Sunday’s Premiership Women’s Rugby Round 8 encounter would stretch their unbeaten run in front of their own supporters beyond 12 months.
“This game is huge for us,” said Ives Campion. “It is a big competition between us and Trailfinders this year, there is only one point in it in the table between us. We have grown a lot into this game and this is where we want the ball to keep rolling and hopefully find the right game to come away with the win.
“I have no doubt they will come at us pretty hard. We both want the same thing, we both want to finish in the top four at the end of this block.”
Ives Campion, who gained a World Cup winners medal as part of the Red Roses’ home triumph this summer, has been at Lightning throughout their partnership with Northampton Saints which began in the year she made her senior debut as a teenager back in 2021.
Since that first outing she has gone on to make an incredible 71 appearances in the second row engine room. Alongside the rapid progress she has made on the field, she has also seen the relationship grow off the pitch – something she feels will continue to go from strength to strength.
The 22-year-old added: “I love playing at Northampton. I genuinely think – and I know I am biased – it is one of the best stadiums to play in. And I think that having that crowd down the one side, they always get behind us.
“Other things like the joint team photograph with Saints [located in the corner between the cinch and East Stands by Gate 2] and the alleyway with all the faces on just goes to show where we’re going to get to as a Club, as one whole club, and how we will hopefully align even more in the future. They have been really good with us at Northampton Saints and that partnership is only ever going to grow.”
Lightning enter this game off the back of a strong start to the 2025/26 season, which has seen them collect 18 points from six rounds so far – with the most recent success being a 19-31 bonus point win away at Bristol Bears.
“We have been really cohesive as a group recently,” added the Lightning lock. “We’ve set a lot of goals this season on where we want to finish, how we want to play, and the values we hold each other to.
“I think we have really gone away and worked on that completely. We have done really well with the players we have got. We have some real key players who have stepped up in some key roles, the likes of Carmela [Morrall], Ala [Lutui], Sadia [Kabeya], they have really been stepping up week in, week out for us and have done an amazing job.”