Loughborough gain Twickenham revenge while Exeter, Cardiff Met and Hartpury maintain winning starts

Loughborough got their own back for their Champions Trophy final defeat as they inflicted the first defeat on Leeds Beckett just two weeks into the new BUCS season.

Newcastle and Durham helped themselves to wins in Premier North A, while Exeter, Cardiff Met and Hartpury continued their positive starts to the season.

Elsewhere, Sheffield and Liverpool secured wins as they both look for promotion this season and Nottingham Trent 2nds thrashed Derby 81-6 in Midlands 2A! Here is a full round-up from out selected leagues in BUCS.

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Premier North A

The standout fixture in Premier North A this week was between last year’s Champions Trophy finalists Leeds Beckett and Loughborough.

With Beckett winning the league and the cup last year – beating Loughborough to both, they are certainly one of the favourites to reach Twickenham once again, but they suffered a minor set-back as they were beaten 13-25 at home.

First half tries from Gair Currie and Henry Spencer along with two penalties from the boot of Tom James gave Loughborough a commanding 0-18 lead at half-time.

Leeds Beckett looked like they were back to their old selves as a penalty and a try reduced the deficit to 10 points, but a score from Dan Watt following waves of Loughborough pressure put the visitors further ahead.

Beckett scored a consolation try right at the death, but once again they came unstuck against a Loughborough side that is the only team to beat Beckett in their last 17 matches.

Loughborough have now begun this season with two wins from two, but they are not the only team with a 100 per cent record.

Currently leading the way are Newcastle who have won all three of their matches this season after a narrow 21-19 victory over the University of Nottingham yesterday.

Tries from Dave Graham, James Leary and Joe Luca-Smith helped secured the win and after finishing fifth last season, this is a perfect start for the team from the North-East.

Elsewhere, Durham University came from behind against Northumbria to earn themselves their second win of the season with a 23-15 victory.

After trailing 0-8, a try from Charlie Norman and some excellent vision from Ali Needen helped Durham into a 13-8 lead at the break.

Sam Moncur then crossed in the final 10 minutes of the match to extend Durham’s lead before Northumbria scored a late pushover try from the scrum. However, the victory went to Durham who are now just two points behind Newcastle.  

Results

Leeds Beckett University 13-25 Loughborough University

Newcastle University 21-19 University of Nottingham

Durham University 23-15 Northumbria University

Premier South A

The University of Exeter made it three wins from three as they continue to show while they are real candidates not just for the Premier South A title, but  for the Champions Trophy as well.

Their latest victory was a 15-20 win away at the University of Bath who have now lost three of their first four matches of this season. Bath qualified for the Champions Trophy last campaign, but this is far from an ideal start for the side who have now won seven of their last 16 matches.

Cardiff Met have won six of their seven last matches in all competitions as they remain second in Premier South A thanks to a comfortable 34-11 win over arch rivals Cardiff University. Met led 29-11 at half-time after a strong display from Cardiff Uni in the first half with their try coming from Huw Parks and two penalties from Julian Mogg.

But after the break, Met controlled the game and scored their fifth try of the match from a catch and drive in the second half, to round off proceedings in this local derby.

In the final game of Premier South A, Hartpury College made it two wins from two as they beat newly promoted side, the University of Bristol 39-6 away from home.

The 2014 champions led 14-3 at half-time before running in four second half tries to pick up their second bonus point win of the season to go level on points with Cardiff Met in second place. Hartpury will certainly be right in the mix for the Champions Trophy come March.

Results

University of Bath 15-20 Exeter University

Cardiff Met 34-11 Cardiff University

University of Bristol 6-39 Hartpury College

Premier North B

Like the 1^st XV, Loughborough 2nds have also made a 100 per cent start to the season as they currently top Premier North B after a thumping 14-41 victory against Durham 2nds. This was Loughborough’s third win of the season and in fact they have actually won their last 18 matches overall.

After promotion via the Premier North B play-off due to them winning Midlands 1A last season, it’s easy to see why Loughborough seem to excel at rugby based on their early season form.  

This defeat was Durhams 2nds’ first of the season and now leaves them in fourth in the table.

Bishop  Burton have got their title and promotion ambitions back on track after an opening day defeat to Loughborough 2nds with two straight wins – the latest coming at home to the University of Manchester.

Their resounding 48-14 win means they are now second in the table, four points behind Loughborough as they aim to go one better than their Premier North A play-off defeat last season.

After a narrow defeat to Bishop Burton last week, Nottingham Trent are now third in the table after edging out the University of Birmingham 21-23.  Trent seem to have put last year’s disappointing campaign behind them as they certainly look like a side that means business early on in this season.  

As for Birmingham, they still only have one win to their name and currently sit seventh in the league after just their second defeat in nine matches.

Elsewhere, the University of Worcester picked up their first win of the season after they edged out the University of St Andrews 32-31 in a thriller. St Andrews remain bottom of the division and are now the only side to have not registered a win in this league after promotion from Scottish 1A last year.

Results

Durham University 2nd 14-41 Loughborough University 2^nd

Bishop Burton College 48-14 University of Manchester 1st

University of Birmingham 1st 21-23 Nottingham Trent University 1st           

University of Worcester 1st 32-31 University of St Andrews 1st

Northern 1A

Sheffield University picked up an emphatic 66-25 win over Durham 3rds to move towards the summit of Northern 1A. Their fourth try right at the end of the game sealed their second bonus point victory of the season and Sheffield have now lost just twice in their last 22 league matches.

Newcastle 2nds missed out on the chance stay  in first place after they were held to a 32-32 drew by the University of York who had to come back from 10-30 down to claim the points.

Three tries in 14 minutes pulled it back to 29-32 and a late penalty made sure York remain on the coattails of the frontrunners.

The University of Liverpool made it two wins on the bounce as they kept their composure to beat the University of Hull 22-15 – who conquered Sheffield last week. Hull will feel there are things to work on from this defeat on Merseyside, but they will be pleased to have taken away a losing bonus point against one of the favourites for the league title this season.

Finally in Northern 1A, Leeds Beckett 2nds thrashed Manchester Met 1st 43-19 at Headingly Campus. After a win against Liverpool last week, Manchester Met couldn’t back that up in Yorkshire as Leeds Beckett made it two from two on home turf for this campaign.

Results

University of Sheffield 1st 66-25 Durham 3rd

Newcastle University 2nd 32-32 University of York 1st

University of Liverpool 1st 22-15 University of Hull 1st

Leeds Beckett 2nd 43-19 Manchester Met 1st

Northern 2A

After thrashing Edge Hill University last week, UCLan were edged out by the University of Chester 1sts 6-3 away from home in their most recent fixture. This was Chester’s first win in this division since promotion from Northern 3A last season and they have now won their last five games at home.

Edge Hill ended their run of one in eight matches with an excellent 20-17 home win against pre-season title favourites Keele. The home side led throughout and this sort of performance will certainly boost their confidence going forward. Keele still do have the chance to go top of the table when they take on UCLan next week.

Results

University of Chester 1sts 6-3 UCLan

Edge Hill University 20-17 Keele University

Midlands 2A

Nottingham Trent 2nds maintained their unbeaten start to the season as they walloped the University of Derby 81-6 at home.

This win unsurprisingly puts them top of the division as they look to gain promotion after finishing runners up last season. This astonishing victory was their ninth win in their last 12 matches.