Bo Westcombe-Evans is set to make her return from injury for Loughborough Lightning in this weekend’s PWR: The Cup Round 3 match against Saracens.
The Red Roses winger ruptured an ACL knee ligament in October 2024, shortly after earning her first senior international caps in England’s successful WXV campaign.
Westcombe-Evans wears the number 11 shirt as Lightning make five changes to the starting line-up from the side that defeated Leicester Tigers 12-69 for Saturday’s encounter at Loughborough University (kick-off: 2pm) – tickets are available by clicking HERE.
Scotland international Lucia Scott makes her Lightning debut at fullback after arriving from Gloucester-Hartpury this summer, with fellow Scots Freya MacColl and Cieron Bell rotated to be among the replacements.
Captain Daisy Hibbert-Jones misses out after suffering an injury training with the Red Roses in midweek, with Lucy Finch taking her place at blindside flanker. Kendall Waudby also comes in for Ellie Roberts at openside, with the latter moving onto the bench.
Fresh from scoring her maiden Lightning points from a run that started inside her own half against Tigers, Isla Curphey starts at loosehead prop with Christine Belisle packing down at tighthead.
The England U20 trio of hooker Lucy Calladine, lock Keevy Fitzpatrick and No.8 Haineala Lutui all start for a third successive match this season, as does the half-back partnership of Meg Davey and Lia Green – who has enjoyed a fast start to the 2025/26 campaign kicking 11 conversions and scoring two tries.
Carmela Morrall captains the side in Hibbert-Jones’ absence and continues her midfield partnership with Ellie Tromans into a third consecutive game, while right winger Ellen Scantlebury runs out from the off as she bids to add to her four tries landed in the opening two rounds.
There’s a welcome return to the replacements for GB 7s star Lis Maude, with the scrum-half set to play her first Lightning minutes in 11 months. Prop Tiwaah Adjei-Ansere is also in-line to play her first Lightning minutes since November 2024. She is joined among the replacements by hooker Polly Peterson, prop Grace Clifford and Amelia Williams provides cover for both the front and back rows.
“It’s great to have Bo back on a Lightning team sheet after a tough time with injuries,” said Smith. “She is one of the best finishers in PWR so to have her fit and firing is a real bonus for us.
“The intensity of the performance against Tigers, especially in the first quarter, was the kind of performance we’ve been chasing. PWR: The Cup is very much a development period for us and game-on-game, we have seen big strides forward.
“We’re under no illusions that we will need to up our intensity once more for the challenge of Saracens if we are to gain another positive performance, but it is a challenge we are excited about and are looking forward to.
“There’s still plenty to work on and we know we will have to take it up another level against Saracens.”
Loughborough Lightning vs Saracens
PWR: The Cup, Round 3
Saturday 6 September, 2025
Kick-off: 2pm
15 Lucia Scott – Lightning debut
14 Bo Westcombe-Evans
13 Ellie Tromans
12 Carmela Morrall (c)
11 Ellen Scantlebury
10 Lia Green
9 Megan Davey
1 Isla Curphey
2 Lucy Calladine (vc)
3 Christine Belisle
4 Tamsin Baynes
5 Keevy Fitzpatrick
6 Lucy Finch
7 Kendall Waudby
8 Haineala Lutui
Replacements:
16 Polly Peterson
17 Tiwaah Adjei-Ansere
18 Grace Clifford
19 Amelia Williams
20 Ellie Roberts
21 Lis Maude
22 Molly Luthayi
23 Cieron Bell
With thanks to Loughborough Lightning
