Aoibhe Kelly reflects on 'crazy' Lightning debut

Promising scrum-half Aoibhe Kelly is set to continue a memorable 2026 as she represents Ireland at the Six Nations Women’s U21 Series.

The 18-year-old made an unexpected Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) debut in February, coming off the bench in Loughborough Lightning’s defeat against reigning champions Gloucester Hartpury and rubbing shoulders with full internationals.

The Roscrea native is now back in her homeland and has been named on the bench for Ireland’s U21 Series opener against Italy in Galway on Saturday.

Reflecting on her PWR debut, Kelly said: “It was a great day. It came very quickly.

“I had been in a couple of sessions with Lightning pre-Christmas but after that I was brought in as injury cover and Nathan (Smith, head coach) was happy with how I was progressing.

“I was playing against Irish senior players, which I found crazy – I couldn’t believe it was the first time I was interacting with them. It was just insane.

“All the Loughborough girls were so supportive and I couldn’t have asked for a better group. The likes of Lilli Ives Campion, they didn’t have to be as good to me as they were and they made the whole transition so easy.

“Once I knew it was a possibility, I told my parents. They were like ‘what?!’, they didn’t expect it so quickly.

“But they were able to come over for the match and I got some pictures with them afterwards, so it was really nice.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Loughborough Lightning Rugby ⚡️ (@lightningrugby)

Kelly started playing rugby aged six and has settled in seamlessly since moving across the Irish Sea.

She is combining her sporting commitments with studying for a degree in Sport Exercise and Health Science – her brother is in nearby Birmingham completing his Masters – and is enjoying the sprinkling of stardust around her new home.

“Loughborough is such a unique town, trying to explain it to people is so weird,” she said.

“The town itself is tiny, then you go into the Uni and it’s massive, and you come across World Cup winners or Olympians casually wondering around.

“It is so normalised and you’re like ‘this is not normal’. It definitely took a bit of time to get used to that and not just in a constant state of fangirling.

“One of the reasons I moved over was that I wanted to play at the highest level. It was a no-brainer to go over and be in that environment where it is so competitive, it is unlike anything I’ve been in before.”

Kelly’s immediate focus is on impressing in green in the coming weeks as she looks to continue her progress on the international scene.

“I have always said the dream is to play for the Ireland seniors but in this competition, it is just to get experience playing at this level,” she said.

“It is a bit harder for me as I’m not playing over here week in, week out so I want to be seen by the right people and just develop and grow as a player.

“I also want to tap into the coaches. We have (Niamh) Briggs, she is unreal, I want to take as much as I can from her as I can.”