Davies targets final place
LARK Davies can’t wait to play in front of crowds – even if they are the opponent’s, writes Rachel Steinberg, of Sportsbeat.
Her Loughborough Lightning squad kick off their 2021/22 Allianz Premier 15s season tomorrow against defending champions Harlequins at the Stoop.
And while facing the title-holders away is a tough first ask for any team, Davies, right, is looking forward to the opportunity to open Lightning’s campaign with a definitive early message.
“Pre-season has flown by,” said the England international. “We’re ready and raring to go for the first game.
“I think there’s a feeling of a real buzz around it, real excitement, especially starting it off playing Quins away.
“Having a crowd will just be amazing. Last year, other than games toward the end of the season, we didn’t really have crowds, we didn’t have fans, so it will be really amazing to have supporters.
“Our family and friends will probably travel to support.
“There will probably be a big crowd for Quins, but to have our fans be able to come and watch will be amazing, too.”
The East Midlands side is coached by Rhys Edwards, with England captain Sarah Hunter operating in a playercoach role.
Hunter’s wealth of experience is invaluable to the roster of homegrown talent
Davies is looking forward to seeing move through the Loughborough set-up. She said: “I think it’s really exciting to see some of our younger players coming up, as Lightning are a university side as well – having those players come up is really important to us in terms of the development of the squad. “There haven’t been too many changes (since last season) but for us it’s massively important to go out and perform how we have in previous seasons, but just make it more consistent. We really want to make that final this year.” The season will again be played over 18 rounds, culminating with play-offs on May 21 and a title final on June 4.
With no promotion or relegation, there are no changes to the 10 teams within England’s top flight of women’s domestic rugby, operating in a league format with home and away fixtures.
As with last season, the top four teams will play their semi-final over one leg, hosted at the respective grounds of the first and second ranked team after the conclusion of the regular season.
Lightning have made the semifinals twice but were defeated on both occasions – by the only two teams ever to have battled for the Premier 15s trophy. Harlequins got the better of them in 2019, and last season saw a gutting 28-24 defeat to Saracens.
If Lightning are to flip the narrative, Davies and her side want to do it their way – just with a bit more zap.
“It’s really important in terms of the style of rugby we like to play, fine-tuning a few different things, making sure we’re in the best shape possible to go out and perform,” she said.
“Something we really pride ourselves on at Lightning is how strong we are, how powerful we are as a group, but also in terms of our intelligence and the rugby we play.
“It will be a real test for us on Sunday to go out and show exactly what we’ll play like.”