Loughborough Lightning hand Rachel Taylor interim charge as Smith joins Canada for WXV campaign

Loughborough Lightning assistant coach Rachel Taylor will take charge of the club on an interim basis from September through October, after head coach Nathan Smith was seconded to Canada’s coaching staff for the WXV Global Series campaign.

Taylor, a former Wales captain who served as head coach of Sale Sharks before joining Loughborough as an assistant in 2025, will oversee the East Midlands side’s JAECOO PWR Next Gen Cup fixtures against Sale Sharks, Saracens, Exeter Chiefs and Leicester Tigers during Smith’s absence.

Smith has previous experience with Canada’s setup, having joined Kévin Rouet’s staff for this year’s Pacific Four Series, where he led the team’s lineout work. Canada finished second in that four-team competition after matches against the Wallaroos, Black Ferns and USA Women’s Eagles.

The WXV Global Series schedule presents a considerably steeper challenge. Canada — runners-up at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup — will face Scotland, England and France in Europe before two further Tests against the Red Roses in Toronto and Ottawa. Three matches against England across the campaign represent some of the most demanding fixtures in the women’s international calendar.

Smith said he was grateful for the opportunity and expressed confidence in the staff he is leaving behind. “I returned from my first secondment enriched and a better coach for the experience,” he said. “I am confident that it will go up another level this time, as challenges do not get much bigger in women’s rugby than preparing a side to face the Red Roses three times.”

He also pointed to the credentials of those covering for him at Loughborough. “Tails [Taylor] is a former head coach at PWR level and is a very capable operator, as is Matt Campbell, who worked with much of the group that will form the Lightning squad during this period in Loughborough University’s BUCS Super Rugby Milk Championship-winning campaign last season.”

Smith’s secondment has also shaped Loughborough’s recruitment ahead of the 2026/27 JAECOO Premiership Women’s Rugby season. Since returning from his first spell with Canada, he has signed six Canada internationals: Pamphinette Buisa, Chloe Daniels, Brooke Rempel, Kiki Idowu, Rachel Smith and Florence Symonds.