The Loughborough Lightning winger is back from long-term injury and aiming a starting Six Nations spot with England
Considering her actual name is Boudica, Bo Westcombe-Evans sure knows how to live up to the warrior attitude of her namesake.
Not only has the Loughborough Lightning and England winger returned to try-scoring ways after a major ACL rupture that kept her on the sidelines last season, she has a perfect boxing record too.
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“It was a student fight night at Loughborough University that I did in my final year,” she tells Rugby World. “I was asked this a while ago and someone made an entire article that revolved around boxing. It comes up when you google me.
“I did it with my friend Sally, we both signed up and both had bouts. It was fun. You did six weeks of training – which was optional – and I really enjoyed the training, not so much being in the ring. I thought I’d be good because I play rugby but it is completely different. I did win though, of course.”
Bo Westcombe Evans: “I want to be back to my best level”
Bo Westcombe Evans running with the ball (Dennis Dixon)
Her fighting spirit was put to the test in 2025. Westcombe-Evans had broken into the England set-up at WXV 2024 with a try-scoring debut against the USA in Canada, two caps her reward for a 14-try stellar season at Lightning and a shot at the Red Roses’ World Cup squad.
A knee ACL rupture put an end to those hopes and instead the winger spent last year on the rehabilitation table following surgery. It could have knocked the wind out of the sails of someone so young, and lesser people would have struggled with watching the monumental success of the Red Roses in a record-breaking World Cup from the sofa, but Westcombe-Evans is choosing to see the opportunity in it all.
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“I embraced the World Cup because I knew there was nothing I could have done to be there, I was on my way back from surgery,” she says. “I’m also housemates with Lilli Ives Campion, who was a Red Rose, so I had to support her and support the team. I wanted us to win and we did, thank God!
“I was travelling reserve for England’s game against the Black Ferns at Twickenham in 2024 too, so I saw a bit of the action and the atmosphere that we are creating. It’s something I want to experience as a player. I want to get back to my best level to be a part of it. Hopefully one day I will.
“The most important thing for me now is performing consistently. If I can do that this season, hopefully I will be recognised by England.”
Red Roses wing spot available
England’s Abby Dow during the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 Pool A match between England and Australia (Getty Images)
There is a spot open, too, with long-standing wing Abby Dow retiring after the final. Westcombe-Evans knows the size of the boots left for filling by Dow, describing her as a “phenomenal player”. She’s under no illusion that it will be easy to step up. She was left out of the first Red Roses squad of the season, 20-year-old Millie David from Bristol Bears getting the nod. Both have been included in John Mitchell’s Six Nations squad.
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A welcome recall for Westcombe-Evans, who knows that returning to the top following injury is a long process.
“It’s been good being back on the pitch, nothing really prepares you for playing. You do all the training sessions, tick all the boxes on the return-to-play, all of that, but being on the pitch and actually playing is a great feeling,” she says.
“Physically I’m feeling good too. I think there is still a bit of weakness in the quads and hamstrings but that will continue to improve with time, building that back. My knee is fully functioning which is nice.
“Since coming back, I’ve been trying to work on my running threat and getting that back up to where I want. It’s now a lot scarier to try and take the outside but I’m working on that to elevate my game. The kicking and high-ball game is also becoming crucial in the women’s game as tactical kicking becomes more common.”
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Bo Westcombe Evans: “Scaz is a huge loss on the pitch”
Fortunately, Westcombe-Evans has a fantastic resource to learn from day in, day out at Loughborough Lightning in recently retired 119-cap Red Rose Emily Scarratt. Now part of the club’s coaching set-up, Scarratt has always been destined to make others better at rugby.
“She is hard to sum up. She could throw passes that most players wouldn’t think were possible. Defences found her so hard to read that it made the players around her even better. She did that her entire career and being able to learn and play with her was great. You learned from the best.
“Scaz is a huge loss on the pitch. I wouldn’t have scored half my tries two years ago if it wasn’t for her, but she coaches us now and in that one-on-one time you can feel her making you a better player.”
Read more: When did England last lose a Women’s Six Nations game?
It’s working, too, as Lightning remain right in the fight for the PWR top four beyond the season’s halfway point.
The battle is now to reach the end-of-season play-offs but also fight herself back into that Red Roses jersey too.
Westcombe-Evans’ Top 3… War Films
- 1917: The longest scene is all shot in one take. My favourite
- Hackshaw Ridge: Andrew Garfield is great in this one
- Unbroken: Must-watch about an Olympic runner interned in WW2
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: rugbyworld.com
