The squads for the Women’s Six Nations alone reflect the strength of University Sport in the UK at the moment. The opening match between England and Scotland featured thirteen players from Loughborough Lightning alone – including the captains of both sides.
Meryl Smith, a student from the university of Edinburgh, also made her debut against England, coming on for fellow student Helen Nelson at Fly-Half. Sisilia Tuipulotu from the University of Gloucester was also named as part of the Welsh squad, despite only starting rugby two years ago. This inexperience is perhaps balanced out, however, by the fact that her cousin is Taulupe Falatau, the number eight for the men’s side.
The Loughborough Lightning side, however, has absolutely dominated the student representation at the Women’s Six Nations, especially in the English and Scottish sides. Here is a deeper dive into just how significant these players have been so far in the competition.
England
The English team is dominated by Loughborough Lightning, which seems to be a breeding ground for the international side. Lark Davies and Emily Scarratt have both managed to bag themselves tries in the first two games, showing that the students in the side are far from background-players. Scarratt has also assisted three other tries, despite only playing 72 minutes so far in her return to the sport. As if Scarratt could not have any more influence in the match against Italy, she also converted five kicks, making her the highest scoring English player at the competition so far.
Loughborough Lightning’s Helena Rowland has also been a key part of the English squad so far, playing all 160 minutes of play. Additionally, she has assisted three tries, as well as scoring five conversions, illustrating her importance in the squad.
Scotland
Loughborough Lightning players also feature heavily in the Scottish squad at this years Women’s Six Nations. Jenny Maxwell has been a key part of the side, and has made the most passes of any player in the competition so far. Unsurprisingly, this number of passes has led her to have the most try assists in the Scottish camp at two. This may be less than her English counterparts, but it is important to remember that Scotland have only scored four tries thus far in the competition.
Loughborough lightning have also supplied Scotland with their skipper, Rachel Malcolm. Malcolm’s main asset to the side so far has certainly been her tackling, and she leads the Scots in this category with 23 successful tackles so far in this edition of the Women’s Six Nations.
