Loughborough Lightning (women's rugby union)

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Loughborough Lightning
Full nameLoughborough Students Women Rugby Football Club
Union Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)Lightning
Founded1970s
Ground(s) Loughborough University Franklin's Gardens
Director of Rugby Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg
Coach(es) Flag of England.svg Nathan Smith
Captain(s) Flag of Scotland.svg Rachel Malcolm
League(s) Premiership Women's Rugby
2022–23 8th
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1st kit
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Official website
www.lboro.ac.uk/sport/performance/lightning/rugby/
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Loughborough Lightning are a women's rugby union club based in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. They are the Professional women's team of Loughborough Students RUFC and Loughborough University. Together with the netball team and the women's cricket team, the rugby union team is one of three women's sports teams based Loughborough University that use the Loughborough Lightning name. [1] In 2017, they were selected as a franchise for the inaugural Premier 15s season. [2]

Contents

History

LSWRFC were initially founded in the late 1970s during a boom in women playing rugby at universities across England. [3] In 1983, Loughborough Students were one of the founder members of the Women's Rugby Football Union, set up to regulate women's rugby throughout the British Isles. [4] Two years later, they hosted the American touring Wiverns rugby team and provided a number of players to the Midlands Select XV that played against the Wiverns on their tour. [5] In 2009, Loughborough worked with the Nottingham Rugby Union in order to promote more men coming to Loughborough matches. [6] When the British Universities and Colleges Sport rugby union leagues were formed in 2004, Loughborough won the league for the first three consecutive years. [7]

In 2016, Loughborough Lightning bid for a franchise in the new competition originally known as Women's Super Rugby and now as the Premier 15s, which was replacing the Women's Premiership. A year later it announced that Loughborough Lightning were successful in their bid for a place in the top flight of English women's rugby. This made them the only student team that was awarded a franchise to play in the league. [8] This was controversial as Loughborough Lightning had not previously played in the RFUW leagues and Lichfield Ladies who had been in the Women's Premiership for 15 years were excluded. [8]

Related Research Articles

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Loughborough Lightning is an English netball team based at Loughborough University. Their senior team plays in the Netball Superleague. In 2005–06 they were founder members of the league. They also enter under-19 and under-21 teams in the National Performance League. Using the name Loughborough Students, Loughborough University also enter teams in intervarsity leagues organised by British Universities and Colleges Sport. Together with the women's cricket team, the women's rugby union team, the women's cycling team, the women's football team and the women's wheelchair basketball team, the netball team is one of five women's sports teams based at Loughborough University that use the Loughborough Lightning name.

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References

  1. "Loughborough Lightning". www.lboro.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  2. "Loughborough given Super Rugby berth". Loughborough Echo. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  3. Collins, Tony (2009). A Social History of English Rugby Union . Routledge. p.  94. ISBN   1134023359.
  4. "Women's Rugby: A work in progress" (PDF). RFU. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  5. "Wiverns '85 – the tour that changed the game". Scrum Queens. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  6. "Lightning teach rugby men new moves". Loughborough Echo. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  7. "BUCScore – Loughborough University Womens 1st Rugby Union Team". BUCS. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Lichfield Ladies left out of new premier women's rugby competition". ITV. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.