Manx rugby player Isla Curphey has scored her long-awaited first try for Loughborough Lightning.
The 25-year-old prop from Ballaugh has clocked up 35 appearances over nearly four years, without getting that first score in an African Violet shirt.
Her time finally came in Lichfield last weekend against Leicester Tigers.
First Try For Loughborough
In an interview after the game, Isla said: “I sent a video snippet of my try to my family group chat to prove and give a bit of evidence in there that I had actually scored a try, because it had taken such a long time to get!”
“I got the pop off and I thought, right that’s it, I am getting over this line for once and I got there in the end!” she said.
“It was a long 50-metre sprint. I was very concerned that I was going to get chased down by one of those speedy backs.
“Thankfully I just got to the line before they managed to catch up with me. It was really nice to get there.”
Against Adversity
Curphey’s increasingly impactful performances in Premiership Women’s Rugby saw her force her way into Lightning’s starting line-up during the 2024/25 season.
Her ability to play on both sides of the scrum also put her on the radar of international selectors.
Due to being Manx, all of the home nations can stake a claim for her services, with Scotland being the most interested party.
All this momentum was well-timed in a campaign that would be followed by a Six Nations campaign – and a Rugby World Cup.
Curphey had every chance of bolting into contention, only for injury to detail those dreams.
Eleven days before Christmas 2024, Curphey suffered a syndesmosis ankle injury against Harlequins that required surgery. Her season was over.
‘It was tough’
“It was tough being on the sidelines and watching all the girls. Fortunately, the silver lining to the cloud was a short season, which meant I didn’t miss out on quite so many games.
“Rehab kept me busy, getting me ready to return for preseason and I really wanted to come back all guns blazing, ready to go. And I achieved that which I was glad about.
“Having a job kept my mind busy as well from me being not quite as active as I would’ve liked to have been. I also managed to get home for a period and spend some time with my friends and family back in the Isle of Man which definitely helped me mentally.
“They were all really supportive, coming over and helping me to start with when I first went for my operation, it was really nice to have my family there supporting me, all the way along.”
To The Future
Curphey is now preparing for when Saracens visit Loughborough University on Saturday (September 6).
“I am looking forward to the weekend ahead,” she said. “Saracens is a big game and is always a really tough contest, but it is an exciting one for us to show what we have been working on and how we have been growing over preseason.
“We really need to trust our process and how we want to play and hopefully that should give us the positive result and show us that our hard work has paid off over this preseason period.”
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