Scurfield will not return to Loughborough Lightning for 2025/26 season
Loughborough Lightning can today confirm that Krissy Scurfield will not return to the Club for the 2025/26 season.
The 22-year-old winger had re-signed with Lightning for the new Premiership Women’s Rugby campaign, but subsequently requested a termination of that agreement to pursue to return to 7s rugby, which has been reluctantly accepted.
Scurfield (#140) joined Lightning from Canada 7s ahead of the 2024/25 season and went on to score 14 tries in 12 games.
Her Lightning form earned a recall to the Canada 15s set-up and she participated in warm-up games for the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, before missing out on selection for the tournament.
Lightning head coach Nathan Smith said: “Krissy still has a burning desire to represent her country at the highest level, and missing out on the Rugby World Cup – despite a stellar season for Lightning – was incredibly disappointing and frustrating for her.
“Unfortunately, international selections are out of our control, but once Krissy made it clear to us that her priorities have now shifted away from the XVs game and back towards 7s, we did not feel it was right for her or the Club to stand in her way.
“We’re disappointed to lose her talent in the PWR, but we have an incredibly talented stable of wingers at our disposal for the season ahead in Bo Westcombe-Evans, Evelyn Clarke, Bulou Mataitoga, Ellen Scantlebury, and Abbie Brown – so I am confident we have more than enough firepower to fill the gap left by Krissy.”
Scurfield said: “I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to represent Lightning in the PWR, to all my coaches and teammates for welcoming me into the group, and to Loughborough’s management for having the faith in me to offer my first professional XVs contract last season.
“It’s bittersweet to leave the team behind, but I want to represent Canada at the highest level I can, and now it feels like 7s is the best opportunity for me to do that.”
Lightning can also confirm that Abby Duguid (#080), Issy Winter (#132) and Cieron Bell (#129) have also left the Club following the conclusion of their contracts.
Second row Duguid played 55 times over four seasons, while lock Winter and winger Bell played seven and six times respectively over the past two campaigns.
“We thank Abby, Issy and Cieron for their contribution to the Club and wish them well for the future,” added Smith.
“Abby, in particular, has been a Lightning stalwart over the past four years, racking up over a half-century of appearances for Loughborough. Her contribution has been huge and she is a popular member of the group, so she departs with our best wishes for the next chapter of her career.”
With thanks to Loughborough Lightning
