Cross-code ‘triple threat’ on England’s radar ahead of World Cup

Loughborough Lightning full-back Fran Goldthorp has been backed to push for full England honours having been coaxed back to the Midlands club from rugby league.

Goldthorp marked her Premiership Women’s Rugby return with a try last weekend having spent two successful seasons with the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL Women’s Premiership.

Prior to heading to Australia – where she won the league’s Rookie of the Year award last year – Goldthorp played 20 times for Lightning while she also featured for Leeds Rhinos in Super League and represented England at the Rugby League World Cup in 2022.

Red Roses attack coach Lou Meadows knows her well having worked with her as part of the U20s set-up and confirmed the senior England coaching staff would be monitoring her progress this season.

“She will be in that wider player watch programme,” Meadows told RugbyPass.

“She’s extremely tough both sides of the ball, she’s got a great carry fight and she’s not scared to give things a go.

“Her personality type, she’s a great team player. She will have your back and I think that’s really important for a lot of players.

“Our defensive system now, especially in the backline, is quite an aggressive one and you’ve all got to go after it together and she’s definitely someone who will do that.”

Goldthorp lined up at full-back against Trailfinders Women last weekend and could form part of an exciting backline alongside potential England colleagues Helena Rowland, Emily Scarratt and Bo Westcombe-Evans.

That is the position she played in league too, but Meadows described Goldthorp as a “triple threat” as she lauded the 21-year-old’s versatility.

“It’s an interesting one. For me, she played full-back and at Loughborough she played full-back but she’s played 13, she’s played on the wing and obviously it’s very different in the league system,” Meadows added.

“She’s got a skill set that’s quite versatile. I think the biggest thing is that she’s got the triple threat of obviously, pass, run and kick.

“So, as long as we can build on that skill set and then identify where we can best utilise that, there could be multiple ways we could use her.”