Nelson prepares for emotional Lightning farewell

On Sunday evening, Helen Nelson will sit back and reflect on more than half a decade of top-level rugby at Loughborough Lightning but before she signs off, there is a derby to win.

The Scotland international will start at full-back in her final appearance for Lightning before she moves on in the summer after seven years in African Violet.

And having played her final home game in last weekend’s defeat to Saracens, she is keen to make sure she departs on a high note when Lightning travel to take on Leicester Tigers in their final game of the Premiership Women’s Rugby season.

She said: “It’s been good being back with the girls post-Six Nations but I’m very aware that it’s the end of an era. I’ve been trying to enjoy the time together as much as possible.

“It’s going to be a tough battle on Sunday. Every time we have played Tigers, there has been lots of emotion and passion in it so we’re very aware that it’s going to be a big one.

“I think I’ll wait until I’ve finished up (to reflect). I’ve had some teammates come up to me and say ‘it’s our second last training session or our last session’. That doesn’t hit me too much, I’m very much stay in the moment and will have some time off after Sunday and will sit back and reflect and look back on those moments and memories.”

During her time at Lightning, the versatile Nelson has played with a host of great players, linking up in the midfield with Emily Scarratt, alternating playmaking duties with Helena Rowland and of course linking up with Scotland teammates Rachel Malcolm and Emma Wassell among many others over the years.

As much as she has enjoyed playing with those legends of the game, Nelson also believes she has been able to stay fresh thanks to the constant development of young players at Lightning.

She explained: “This club has meant so much. The fact I stayed around for so long speaks volumes. It’s always been such a close-knit group of players and because we are linked to the university, there is always a fresh, younger group coming through so it’s always nice to see some young guns get their first caps for the club and watch them develop through the ranks.

“Having been here for seven years, that has happened with a lot of players. It’s such a great club, everyone clearly cares for each other and looks out for each other on the pitch.”

Lightning have missed out on the play-offs this season despite a good start to the campaign, paying the price for some narrow defeats in March to Sale Sharks and Gloucester Hartpury.

Then during the Guinness Women’s Six Nations, Nelson departed for Scotland duty, taking over the captaincy midway through the competition after Malcolm was ruled out with injury.

Despite a strong start with victory over Wales, the Scots were then hit hard by injuries and did not manage another win, Nelson admitting that it had been a tough experience.

She added: “It was challenging in many different ways. For me, personally, coming off the highs of the World Cup, that was a career highlight and the best place we had got to as a programme, we were playing some really great rugby.

“That almost made this campaign even more difficult. There were a lot of injuries, a lot of new players, a new coaching staff, so it was a very tough campaign.

“There was the unexpected captaincy as well, which was tough but I was still surrounded by some really good team members with Emma Wassell and Rhona Lloyd, we managed the ship as well as we could.”

Following Sunday’s finale, Nelson will catch up with her teammates for the club’s end-of-season dinner before a well-deserved rest.

While her next move has yet to be confirmed, what is sure is that few have given as much to Lightning in recent times.