World Cup winners Sadia Kabeya and Lilli Ives Campion make their return to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens this weekend as Loughborough Lightning name an unchanged starting line-up to take on Sale Sharks.
The Red Roses pair are amongst the 13 World Cup stars included in Head Coach Nathan Smith’s squad for the Premiership Women’s Rugby Round 2 encounter on Sunday 2 November (kick-off: 1pm).
There’s only one change to the teamsheet from the high-scoring opening round loss to Harlequins, as new signing Rachel Ehrecke is set to make her debut from amongst the replacements.
That means all six of Lightning’s USA contingent of World Cup stars are set to feature, with Alev Kelter, Bulou Mataitoga and Mae Sagapolu starting and Kathryn Treder and Tahlia Brody on the bench.
The dynamic Scottish half-back partnership between Leia Brebner-Holden and Helen Nelson continues in club colours on Sunday at cinch Stadium after leading Scotland to the World Cup quarter-finals, and they are joined by national teammates Becky Boyd and Christine Belisle.
Amongst a squad packed with World Cup stars is a burgeoning clutch of rising young talent, including vice-captain and inside centre Carmela Morrall and No.8 Haineala Lutui, who topped the league carry count in Round 1 on her Premiership debut. Loosehead prop Amelia Williams is also primed to make an impact from the bench once more, fresh from her 50 metre solo-stunner at the Stoop.
“I feel like we’re quite a settled team,” Smith said. “We have a strong level of continuity, and we’re fully prepared for a tough game. We took a lot of confidence from our opening match.
“I thought we played the brand of rugby that we want to play against Quins, and it’s a style girls really believe in. We made some errors that led to some easy tries last week, so if we can cut them out, come Sunday, then we will definitely be a lot stronger.
“Sale have brought in some big-name players over the summer and obviously had a strong performance against Tigers last week.
“I think they’ve got a very direct brand of rugby, they want to kick the ball and focus on set-piece, so we know what we’ll be facing, so it’s just about stopping it.”
LOUGHBOROUGH LIGHTNING vs SALE SHARKS
Premiership Women’s Rugby, Round 2
Sunday 2 November, 2025
cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 1pm
15 Lia Green
14 Bulou Mataitoga
13 Alev Kelter
12 Carmela Morrall
11 Bo Westcombe-Evans
10 Helen Nelson
9 Leia Brebner-Holden
1 Anne Young
2 Lucy Calladine
3 Mae Sagapolu
4 Becky Boyd
5 Lilli Ives Campion
6 Daisy Hibbert-Jones ©
7 Sadia Kabeya
8 Haineala Lutui
Replacements:
16 Kathryn Treder
17 Amelia Williams
18 Christine Belisle
19 Rachel Ehrecke – Lightning debut
20 Tahlia Brody
21 Kendall Waudby
22 Alicia Maude
23 Ellen Scantlebury
With thanks to Loughborough Lightning
