'Lightning is the best place for me': Loughborough skipper pens new multi-year deal

Loughborough Lightning captain, Daisy Hibbert-Jones, has signed a new multi-year contract to stay with the East Midlands club.

In 2024/25 the 23-year-old back-row forward was a mainstay for Nathan Smith’s side in their Premiership Women’s Rugby campaign.

Last season she amassed more minutes (1,272) than any other player in the league and the fifth-most tackles (194).

So far this season, as Lightning have mounted a charge for the league’s top four, Hibbert-Jones’ impact has been largely the same. A starter in all seven of the club’s league outings to date, she has offered a staunch reliability in the Loughborough pack.

“Lightning is the best place for me,” she said. “I’ve embedded myself in the club here over the past four seasons that I’ve been playing, and I’m really enjoying playing and training with this core group of girls that we have, and there’s no better fit for me in the league.

“One of the leading factors for me joining Lightning was that Sarah Hunter was here, and she was the starting No.8, and as a young aspiring back row at the time, there was nobody better to learn from.

“I learned so much from Sarah before she retired, and then an opportunity came for me to step up. Since then, I’ve grown massively, becoming a regular in the team sheet. I believe that’s because of how hard I’ve worked on and off the training field.

“A huge factor in my decision to stay at Lightning was the group of girls I play rugby with. This is probably the tightest this group has ever been.

“I think that we’re in such an exciting place that I want to stay a part of. We’re in a position now where that top four is a tangible goal that we can reach, and I’m excited by that, and I want to stay in this area and keep on driving for success over the next couple of years as well.

“There is so much growth for the team, which I think is a hugely exciting prospect for the players, the coaches, and me, that we are getting the results that we want. We’re getting the points we need for the table, but there are still areas where we know we can improve.”

Over the past two seasons Hibbert-Jones has received the Lightning Supporters’ Player of the Year Award and clocked 62 appearances in African Violet since she joined the side from Sale Sharks in 2022.

Already Hibbert-Jones has seen a lot in her young career. An ACL, MCL and meniscus tear aged 17 kept her out of the game for an extended period of time, but she made up for lost time with an England Under-20s call up and won a sole Red Roses cap at the 2023 edition of WXV 1.

Last year the 23-year-old shared the captaincy with Rachel Malcolm, but took on full responsibility in the role after the Scotland international left for pastures new with Trailfinders Women.

“I am delighted to sign Daisy on a multi-year deal,” said Smith, “It is a statement of intent by the programme to keep our key players at the club, and Daisy is essential to what we are striving to achieve on and off the pitch at Lightning.

“Daisy has been performing exceptionally well this season. You can see by her performances on the pitch and by her physical stature that she is completely different from when I first started working with her. She is far more advanced than she was three years ago.

“She is pushing some of the top numbers in the PWR for a back rower, and the scary thing is, she still has huge growth in her game to get even better.

“Daisy has grown as a player and as a leader considerably during my time at the club. Her leadership is growing week by week, and we are really looking forward to working with her in the future as not only her performances grow, but so do Lightning’s.

“What I do like about Daisy is that she connected the whole club, from your first year into the programme players to your top-level international players. She binds the group together and was a reason why I wanted her to be captain and lead the team long term.”