England U20 captain Lucy Calladine: ‘For that to crumble was scary'
England U20 Women captain Lucy Calladine suggests her journey in the game thus far has been “quite a normal linear pathway”. But that doesn’t quite do her story justice.
Calladine was introduced to rugby as an 11-year-old at school in Burton and was soon convinced to join her friends at her local club.
Finding an accepting, welcoming environment, she excelled in a number of positions across the pack, and centre, before settling on hooker and getting an invitation to attend an RFU Centre of Excellence.
Yet even then things weren’t totally straightforward. Although Burton is around a 40-minute drive from Loughborough, Calladine found herself in Worcester Warriors’ catchment area.
That meant three-hour round trips in the car with dad, Martin – her “biggest supporter” – every time she had training at the Centre of Excellence.
“I wouldn’t change that for the world,” Calladine tells RugbyPass. “The time I had at Worcester CofE was really beneficial for me.”
So beneficial in fact that Calladine enrolled in an occupational therapy course at the University of Worcester and set herself the goal of pulling on a Warriors jersey in a senior match.
But as the hooker began to rise through the England pathway and that dream edged ever closer to reality, it was yanked away from her by the demise of Worcester as a professional entity.
Warriors went to the wall at the start of the 2022/23 season and although the club’s women’s team were able to complete the Premier 15s campaign, they disbanded at its conclusion.
“Because I went to Worcester CofE I had a plan for myself that I was going to go to Worcester Uni, I was gonna play for Worcester Warriors,” Calladine explains.
“I had my plan set and for that to all crumble in front of you, it was quite scary, you know. I just really didn’t know what I was going to do.
“But obviously, having the support from even the Worcester Warriors coaches, like Benny Williams, for example, she was a massive support to help me to process this, but it was definitely hard.
“But the support system around me was really good and obviously, [Loughborough] Lightning helped me. [They] chose me and helped me go to them and helped me with coming to Loughborough Uni as well, which was just really helpful.”
Calladine is grateful for the emotional support provided by her parents and two sisters during that period, “making me have that drive to carry on and push on even when things are really difficult”.

Her old coach in Worcester, Williams, has also played a key role in her development and continues to do so as part of LJ Lewis’ U20 coaching staff.
“She instilled a belief in me,” Calladine says of Williams’ influence. “She just made me feel confident in my ability and I think that was the main thing that unlocked my skills.
“She’d set me up with the basic skills but then helped me develop so much. So, I definitely have to take my hat off to Benny and say, she probably made me the player I am today.”
Ultimately, it was Loughborough Lightning who offered Calladine the opportunity to continue on her rugby journey, a mere 20 or so miles down the road from her hometown.
It was not only the proximity to her family that convinced the hooker the club was the best fit for her. Chats with Nathan Smith and his coaching staff, as well as the fact she knew some of her contemporaries helped and she has since enrolled on a coaching course at Loughborough University.
The move up the M42 has also brought her into contact with a host of internationals, who she has been able to use as a “learning stone” to aid her own development.
“It is unreal having Treds [Kathryn Treder] and Elis [Martin] as my hookers,” she says. “To see the little skills and tips that they give you is really helpful.
“And then, obviously having big names like Scaz [Emily Scarratt] and all that lot, it’s definitely cool to see and just how they hold themselves in general is just pretty unreal. You learn so much from them.”
Calladine’s idol growing up was Lightning assistant coach Sarah Hunter, but she admits to also being star-struck when she met Test centurion Scarratt for the first time.
“I had a taster day, and I saw her, and I think I was a bit in awe,” Calladine recalls. “She’s obviously a lovely person, she came up and spoke to me straight away and all that but, when we first met, I was like, ‘Oh, she’s just a normal person’.
“In your head she’s this amazing person that probably wouldn’t speak to you, but I think that’s one thing that they really do well at Loughborough, all of the England girls, they’re so welcoming and speak to you, and they’ll always have time to give you advice.
“So, it was definitely a pinch-me moment.”
Another Loughborough teammate is her predecessor as England U20 captain, Lilli Ives Campion, who has gone on to make her full Test debut as the Red Roses prepare for a home Rugby World Cup.
Does Campion’s elevation make international honours feel that bit more achievable? “Lilli’s a massive inspiration for everyone in the squad,” Calladine says.
“It definitely just proves that it can happen. Obviously, being given this role makes me have a bit more of a sense of maybe I can do it.
“But obviously everyone’s journey is a bit different, so I’ll just have to wait and see.”
Calladine insists she must find her own leadership style rather than borrow too heavily from either Campion or Steph Else, who remains in the squad.
She will get her first opportunity to lead out her country on the outskirts of Paris on Saturday when England U20 take on South Africa at the National Rugby Centre in Marcoussis.
It is an honour that clearly means a lot to the hooker, who unsurprisingly phoned her dad first once head coach Lewis had broken the good news at the end of January’s training camp.
The identity of Saturday’s opponents only adds to her excitement. “That could be the only time I ever experience that,” Calladine says of facing the Junior Springbok Women.
“It’s crazy to think I’m going to be playing South Africa, not many people can say that, especially at my age.
“So, it’s definitely exciting, a bit scary, but more exciting and as long as we back ourselves, we should be so fine. But yeah, it’s something that you can gloat about, tell your family about and your friends.”
If things continue to track as they have been on Calladine’s “normal linear pathway” then this weekend will not be the last of those ‘pinch-me’ moments in an England shirt.
“I think it’s important to have goals because it sets you up to do something,” Calladine says. “I definitely want to become an established player in Loughborough Lightning at some point in the future and be able to be a consistent player there.
“And then hopefully everyone’s dream is, especially in 20s, to strive to be that Red Rose player in the senior team. So hopefully I’ll make it one day, but that will come with a lot of hard work.”
If her journey to the England U20 captaincy has proved anything, it’s that Calladine is prepared to go the extra mile to achieve her goals.
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