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What to watch in women’s rugby: Will Lightning strike in-form Harlequins?
Loughborough Lightning head coach Nathan Smith admitted he hopes Harlequins are “struck by something” this Saturday as his side become the latest team to try to halt their momentum, live on RugbyPass TV.
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“I hope it’s us running over the top of them!” Smith continued as he answered a question on whether Loughborough could take advantage of the so-called ‘bye-week curse’ that has taken hold of Premiership Women’s Rugby this season.
Ahead of the start of round 10, no team has won the match immediately following their rest week this term, although the weather scuppered league leaders Exeter Chiefs’ hopes of becoming the first to do so in Bristol last weekend.
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But, outside of the Chiefs, third-placed Harlequins are the form team in PWR heading into a match at Franklin’s Gardens that could shift the mood around both clubs.
Few pundits would have predicted Harlequins would gatecrash the PWR top four following a 2023/24 campaign in which they finished a hugely disappointing seventh, two places below Lightning.
Their prospects didn’t look too much brighter as new head coach Ross Chisholm started his reign with back-to-back home league defeats to Exeter and Gloucester-Hartpury.
Yet, Harlequins have since reeled off six straight victories, including away wins at Bristol Bears and Saracens, to sit comfortably in the play-off places at the halfway stage.
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It could have been different though. The second match of that run was a 22-19 defeat of Loughborough at Twickenham Stoop that was won by a moment of magic from England star Ellie Kildunne.
Lightning dominated territory and possession at the Stoop back in October – enjoying two-thirds of each – but conceded 12 unanswered points in the final quarter, including Kildunne’s world-class late score.
“If they don’t win that game, do they go on the run?” Smith added. “Winning’s a habit, losing’s a habit and they’ve certainly got the habit of winning at the moment.
“Hopefully that’s one thing we can stop them doing at the weekend.”
“That’s rugby, isn’t it?” Loughborough centre Emily Scarratt said when discussing that defeat to Quins last week.
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“That’s sport. It’s fine margins, it’s the little moments and we’ve just got to try and get on the right side of a few more of them.”
One factor that tipped October’s meeting in Harlequins’ favour was the hosts’ ability to replace their front-five with internationals on the hour mark, ensuring their performance in the forwards didn’t dip.
“We’re in completely different phases of where we are,” Smith, who will be without England playmaker Helena Rowland for the match at Franklin’s Gardens, said.
“They’ve got a pretty settled squad that’s played together. We’ve had quite a number of new players come into the programme over the summer and without pre-season it makes it a little bit tricky to get that cohesion.
“Our performances were always going to have incremental growth within them. We’ve just not got the results.
“Essentially, Quins are in a good spot at the moment but the season’s far from over. So, hopefully we can have a sliding doors moment at the weekend and stop them from winning.”
Find out if Loughborough can kickstart their season at Franklin’s Gardens, live and for free via RugbyPass TV, except in the UK, Ireland, USA and Canada.
Saturday, December 14
15:05 GMT – Loughborough Lightning v Harlequins, Franklin’s Gardens – WATCH LIVE HERE
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