Club Rugby

Loughborough Lightning 21-24 Bristol Bears: Millie David double seals dramatic turnaround

Bristol Bears recorded an impressive comeback victory away to Loughborough Lightning on Sunday afternoon.

by
The Rugby Paper Team
22 February 2026

By Joshua Green

Bristol Bears recorded an impressive comeback victory away to Loughborough Lightning on Sunday afternoon.

A brace of tries from Millie David, along with scores from Emma Orr and Evie Gallagher, secured the Bears a third victory of the PWR campaign.

Player of the Match, Meryl Smith said: “It was a tough game out there, so to come away with a victory and five points is great for us.

“We’ve come out after Christmas with a point to prove. The first half of the season didn’t go our way, so to come back refreshed over the last two games, we have showed what we are about.”

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Match action

Despite having 95% possession for the first eight minutes of the contest, Lightning were unable to find the opening score of the match, and it was Bristol who were rewarded for their early dogged defence on the 13th minute mark as Welsh winger David, below, dived over in the corner.

An initial break from Gallagher saw the away side deep into the 22 and they kept their patience before finding David in the corner for the score.

After their early dominance, it felt almost inevitable that Loughborough would respond with a try of their own, and that they did after 24 minutes.

Rachel Ehrecke burrowed over from a metre out after sustained pressure on the Bristol line. Helen Nelson added the extras, and the home side took the lead for the first time in the match.

They then extended their lead just before the 30th-minute mark. Bristol’s Gallagher had been shown a yellow card just moments before after infringing on her own line at the ruck, and from the resulting play, and on her birthday, Red Rose Sadiya Kabeya crashed over.

Nelson again added the conversion, which saw the hosts 14-5 up at the break.

Second half

Lightning continued where they had finished the first half, scoring their third try of the game just two minutes into the second 40.

After great interplay from Kabeya and Fancy Bermudez on one wing, the ball was spread wide, finding the hands of Carmella Morrall on the 22-metre line.

She grubbered through, and captain, Daisy Hibbert-Jones, was the quickest to pounce on the ball over the line to score.

Nelson once more added the extras, and the hosts now had a 16-point buffer.

It didn’t take long for Bristol to reply, though. Gallagher made amends from her first-half yellow as she muscled her way over the line from two metres out.

Ella Bevan slotted the simple conversion, making it a nine-point game. That gap was cut yet further with 20 minutes left to play.

David found the edge on the ten-metre line and showed a clean pair of heels to canter over the line for her second score of the afternoon, making it a four-point game.

With their tails up, Bristol then took the lead. A brilliant line from Orr on the 22-metre line, cut through the heart of the home side’s defence to score. Bevan added the conversion, and the away side were now ahead by three.

The Bristol comeback was then complete in the final minute of the game.

Despite Bevan slipping over whilst taking a penalty in the final play of the game, Lightning spilled the ball with the clock in the red, striking jubilation for the away side, securing them their third victory of the 2025/26 campaign.

Teams, ratings and more

Loughborough Lightning: Mataitoga 6, Bermudez 6, Kelter 7 (Scott 58′, 6), Morrall 7, Westcombe-Evans 6, Nelson 6, Maude 6, Young 6 (Curphey 51′, 6), Treder 6 (Stathopoulos 68′, 6), Sagapolu 8 (Belisle 63′, 7), Ives Campion 7, Ehrecke 7 (Boyd 53′, 6), Hibbert-Jones (c) 7, Kabeya 7 (Brody 66′, 6), Lutui 8

Bristol Bears: Lovibond 6, Joyce 6 (De Vera 65′, 7), Orr 7, Smith 9 (Daniels 65′, 6), David 9, Demant (cc) 7, Bevan 8, Davies 6 (Jah 72′, 6), Skeldon 6 (Dale 72′, 6), Bern (cc) 7 (Clarke, 72′, 6), Cunnigham 6, Burns 6, Balogun 7, Buisa 7 (Herring 63′, 6), Gallagher 7