Rachel Malcolm: Loughborough Lightning will rediscover their thunder
After 10 rounds of the Allianz Premier 15s, Loughborough Lightning find themselves in desperate need of a spark.
The team are languishing at the tail end of the league with 13 points to their name, ahead of Wasps and DMP Sharks who continue to be without a win.
This fall from loftier heights in the league represents a slump this team is facing not just this season, but over the past few years since they reached the playoffs in the 2019 and 2021.
The team is led by Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm and her trusty wing-women is none other than England’s most capped player, Sarah Hunter.
After losing to a Harlequins side stacked full of talent, both players argue that there is no need for panic and the team is heading towards a change in fortune.
“I genuinely don’t think we’re too far away,” said Hunter, who captained England to World Cup glory in 2014.
Hunter was one of 17 players selected for the Rugby World Cup from Loughborough and one of nine who qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament in New Zealand.
Loughborough’s Scottish captain was one of six Scots in Loughborough’s squad at the beginning of the season. Chloe Rollie, who made an agonising departure from the World Cup at the group stages as a result of an arm injury, joined in January.
Malcolm reflected on life in Loughborough compared to in the Scotland camp.
She said: “It’s probably been a wee bit of a transition, it’s been brilliant being back in with the girls and we’ve absolutely loved it.”
On the defeat at The Stoop, she said: “I’m really proud of the fight we showed, particularly at the end of the first half.
“We spent the majority of the game in our half which is a really tough way to play but we showed a huge amount of attitude in terms of keeping them out for long phases of play but ultimately we cracked.”
Loughborough’s attempts to play dynamic, free flowing rugby will continue to have little success if the team is repeatedly pinned inside their own 22, acres away from their opposition’s try line.
“The way that we want to play in terms of throwing the ball around really does need time together. I think that’s probably showed in the results in this first half of the season but we’re building and when we get it right like that try in the second half [against Harlequins] it shows how good we can be.
“The pleasing thing is that it’s stuff we can fix, it’s not necessarily the pressure that other teams are putting on us, it’s us making the mistakes, it’s just making good decisions at the right time and at key moments in games,” she added.
By the time Lightning hosted Wasps Women in what was their opening fixture of 2023, Hunter and her international cohort had returned to base camp in the midlands.
Since then, Loughborough have beaten the two teams set to be excluded from the league next season and been outscored in their other three fixtures 113-48, including surrendering a 19-7 halftime lead to Worcester Warriors Women.
“We were really disappointed with our second half last week against Worcester because it was just errors compounding errors and poor decisions but we’re getting there,” stressed Malcolm.
“I think when that all starts to click, making less errors, getting our accuracy up we’re going to be a team to be reckoned with.
“It is just taking a little bit of time at the moment but we’ve got a brilliant group of people who are working super hard to make sure that happens.”
Lightning’s squad has grown over recent weeks having welcomed their first Australian, Annabelle Codey who debuted for the Wallaroos last summer.
Codey joins Rollie as well as Daisy Hibbert-Jones who moved from Sale last summer.
On the new additions to the squad, Malcolm said: “Everyone that’s come into our environment has been adding to it and that’s all that you can ask.
“I think Daisy’s been outstanding. She’s a brilliant player and she’s learning so much in this environment and there’s a huge amount for her to come in the future.”
Loughborough are now one of four teams who are resting this week as the other six teams have an opportunity to play matches that were rescheduled over the festive period.
“We’ve had a tough slog but we’ll come back fighting,” Malcolm said confidently.
“We’re building and we’ve just got to concentrate on us and what we can fix and like I said before that’s the bit that we’re doing wrong, it’s us making mistakes and we can fix that.”
Loughborough Lightning will return to Premier 15s action when they host Sale Sharks on the 18th February at Franklins Gardens.
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