Amelia Williams Exclusive: Why the Loughborough pathway is helping the promising prop scale new heights
Williams starred with a hat-trick as Loughborough University clinched the Women's BUCS Super Rugby Championship title in April
©1880 Photography / Phil Peters
“I didn’t expect half of these awards, to be honest,” Amelia Williams admits, reflecting on an impressive season of achievements.
The recognition she has received has come in the form of BUCS Super Rugby Women’s Player of the Year for her university, Loughborough, as well as Young Player and Supporters’ Player of the Season for her club, Loughborough Lightning.
It has been a whirlwind campaign, including a three-month wrist injury sustained just before Christmas, but Williams returned strongly to earn England Under-20s selection and help Loughborough win the Women's BUCS Super Rugby title.
To cap it off, she signed a new one-year contract with Lightning last month.
Now, as she looks ahead to her fourth year at Loughborough, she reflects on the “world-class” pathway system that has helped her develop season on season.
Williams began her journey at Medway Rugby Club in Kent as a teenager before moving to the prestigious sporting college of Hartpury. From the age of 16, she was moved into the position of prop.
“I was never the stereotypical type of prop, and I didn't want to change into that because I knew the women's game was changing and props were becoming more dynamic,” Williams admits, citing England great Sarah Bern as an early source of inspiration.
Williams, like Bern, broke onto the scene quickly.
She was picked up by Loughborough in 2023 at the age of 18 and placed on their player pathway programme, playing for both the university side as well as in Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR).
The young prop made her debut at the age of 19 against Midlands rivals Leicester Tigers in February 2024, going on to make eight more appearances that season.
“As a young prop, you don’t always expect the exposure that I’ve been given, especially when I first arrived as an 18-year-old in the PWR,” Williams adds. “I learnt a lot, and it has given me so much experience to develop.”
Alongside making 30 appearances for Lightning thus far, she has also competed in Women's BUCS Super Rugby on 18 occasions across the last three seasons.
“In my first years of playing BUCS, there was a big difference between the two leagues. There were a lot of young players who weren’t as established as much then.
“But I think as the BUCS programme has grown, you can see the standards increasing. You can tell a lot of the other clubs have fluid pathways as well as Lightning, using young PWR players in BUCS when they're not getting game time.”
Williams spoke in detail about a ‘player first’ mentality at Loughborough, with development of players at the heart of the club’s ethos.
“Being around training for Lightning, and being involved, even if I have played on a Wednesday in BUCS, has allowed me to gain a better understanding of the professional environment,” she continues.
“There is still quite a jump, say physically, with the PWR where you're playing against world-class players.
“Set piece-wise, there’s also a jump and that's what I struggled with quite a lot where I was going from set piece in BUCS, to then scrumming against world-class players like Sarah Bern and Maud Muir.
“But the thing is, it comes with experience.”
With Williams plying her trade as a ball-carrying prop, she admits the more unstructured nature of BUCS has allowed her to develop that strength, with PWR experience improving her game understanding and set piece.
The strength of this pathway is reflected in the talent Loughborough has produced, with former BUCS Super Rugby players progressing to higher levels, including World Cup winner Lilli Ives-Campion.
“Watching her grow is amazing because she played with us in the BUCS play-off semi-final last season and played with us through England Under-20s,” Williams says.
“Every time she took to the field, no matter who she was playing for, she was showing the standards and values that international players have.”
Williams also plays alongside Haineala Lutui, who made her England debut in this year's Six Nations, a meteoric rise after first appearing in Women's BUCS Super Rugby just a season earlier.
“She’s one of my best friends,” Williams adds. “I think it's really exciting to see such a young player, not only just getting one cap, but playing throughout the Six Nations.
“Ala was only in the 20s for a year, had her first season in PWR, and has just excelled from there.”
With Williams herself a regular for the England Under 20s, she has ambitions of joining her teammates as Red Roses.
And if this season's Women's BUCS Super Rugby final is anything to go by, she is making a good impression on those watching on.
Loughborough went into the final at Rodney Parade on the back of heartbreaking defeats in 2024 and 2025, with Williams herself looking to right the wrongs of last year's 30-29 loss to Cardiff Met.
Three tries and a sensational performance later, the powerful prop pushed her team to a comprehensive 45-5 victory over Brunel.
“It was such a special day,” Williams reflects.
“Obviously, scoring the hat-trick and getting Player of the Match was so special to me, but I think it also showed the team achievement, and I think the final really showed the resilience we had as a group and the work we put together in the season.
“Before the game, we said we don't need to put the pressure on ourselves. With the pressure off, we can just play the rugby that's in front of us.
“Winning that title was a reward for the commitment not just for the players on the pitch, but for the programme as a whole.”
Rewarded for an excellent season in BUCS Super Rugby, as well as nine appearances in the PWR, the 21-year-old received a one-year contract extension at the end of May, which will see her through to the end of her studies.
In the PWR this season, she has caught the eye with three tries - including a Try of the Season contender against Harlequins back in October - and Williams attributes her successful campaign to the resources and coaching available to her.
“Despite ending the year strong, I had to have surgery on my wrist in December, so I was out for three months then but I think that really helped me in having two halves to the season,” she explains.
“I worked really hard with the strength and conditioning coaches and physios to get in the best place possible to be back for the Under-20s.
“Playing a lot with BUCS, with the Under-20s and with Lightning sounds difficult to transition from, but I think it really helps me as a player to take different learnings from each team and put them into practice.”
As she enters her fourth year at Loughborough, Williams identifies her ability to cover ground quickly and the continued development of her set-piece as key areas of focus as she aims to establish herself as a regular for Lightning and break into the England senior squad.
“You don't see too many props having the speed that I believe I have. I want to keep showing that on the field. I still take pride in working on my set piece. Over these years, I've really worked on my scrum, and it's really helped me be seen.”
While Williams continues to focus on her own development, she is equally determined to help Loughborough challenge towards the top end of the PWR table in the coming seasons.
Assessing Lightning's 2025/26 campaign ahead of their final outing against Leicester this weekend, she said: “I think an ambition, obviously, from the start of the season was to get to the top four, but I think especially this year has probably been the hardest because of a lot of injuries.
“I think we have laid out our standards quite well. It’s just continuing to look at what we need to do to kick on. Especially when we go through losses like we did on Sunday [Loughborough - who sit seventh - lost 62-24 at home to Saracens], we need to look at how we can kick on to next week.
“With Tigers this weekend, we want to put on a performance that we're proud of to end the season.”
.jpg "John Mitchell said the Red Roses are close to being one of England’s greatest sporting teams after winning another Grand Slam.")
