BUCS Super Rugby: Big Bath comeback, Loughborough and Exeter squeeze through, Durham down Nottingham
Exeter will lock horns with Loughborough in the Men's BSR Milk Championship semi-finals
©Ben Lumley / BUCS Super Rugby
Not many gave Chris Davies’s Cardiff University team much hope ahead of their Milk Championship quarter-final against league champions Bath.
Yet, the men from the Welsh capital threw those doubts aside early on at ‘The Yard’.
A dream opening 30 minutes saw Cardiff race into an unlikely 27-0 lead, thanks to tries from Tom Unsworth, Jack Thomas, and Mason Archer, complemented by a drop goal from Harrison James, who returned at 10 for the side.
However, Italian Under-20 star and Bath number 8 Enoch Opuku-Gyamfi brought the league champions back into the contest with a double before the break, cutting the lead to 16 points.
A Cardiff penalty between the tries left the half-time score at 30-14 in favour of the visitors.
Bath needed a spark, and as he has done so frequently this season, co-captain Max Pearce delivered.
He scored a try four minutes after the break and added a second 13 minutes later, cutting Cardiff’s lead to just two points as Bath piled on the pressure.
Replacement Iwan Coyle capitalised on that momentum, scoring a try that put 'The Brothers' in front for the first time before the hour mark.
Bath then sealed the victory with two late tries from Sam Winters and Freddy Rossingneux, sandwiched around a penalty, as they secured a 48-30 win.
It was a comeback befitting of champions, yet Cardiff had put Bath under immense pressure with a superb performance. However, the double dream remains alive for Aaron James' men as they progress to the semi-finals on April 8th.
Up in the East Midlands, Loughborough faced an in-form Hartpury, who had won four of their last five league games.
After a tight opening 20 minutes, Loughborough’s big second row and captain Owain Evans burst through from outside the 22 to score the game’s first try.
Hartpury responded with two tries, but Evans added his second, converted by Ben Taylor, to put the home side ahead.
Nevertheless, Hartpury regained the lead with a penalty and a try two minutes from the break.
Trailing 20-14, Loughborough needed a response after half-time, and Archie Kean delivered with a brilliant line-breaking run under the posts. Taylor’s conversion put them one point ahead.
Hartpury hit back on the hour mark with a try, reclaiming a 25-21 lead. Yet, just three minutes later, a penalty try saw the African Violet retake the advantage. Loughborough dug in to see out the game, winning 28-25 to reach the last four.
Captain and Man of the Match Owain Davies, reflected: “Well, that’s knockout rugby for you. Two teams going at each other for the whole 80 minutes. Two more weeks now to rev it up a notch for the home semi-final.”
And that semi-final will be against old foes Exeter University, who edged past Cardiff Met 27-25 at the Rubber Crumb.
Met got off to a dream start with flanker Cerith Davies powering over from close range. Vikas Meijer added the extras, but Exeter responded immediately, with hooker Alex Osborn dotting down to level the game at 7-7.
Penalties traded between Ben Coen and Meijer kept the sides locked at 10-10 at half-time.
In-form Exeter hooker Tyler Bayley, who scored 11 tries in the league season, crossed for the first score of the second half, converted by Coen, who added a penalty to extend the lead to 20-10.
Met narrowed the gap with a Meijer penalty, then Jack Walsh’s try reduced the deficit to 20-18 just after the hour mark.
Exeter hit back immediately, with replacement wing Ollie Rednall scoring. Coen’s conversion extended the Devon side’s lead to nine points.
A late try from Matt Bridge brought the Archers within two points, but Exeter held on to secure their place in the semi-finals.
And Durham will make up the MBSR semi-finalists after they defeated Nottingham 35-21 at Highfield Sports Complex.
The away side, who finished the league campaign one place and one point behind Nottingham, came out fast with two converted tries in the opening 20 minutes.
Nottingham hit back, but the sides traded four more tries before the break, leaving Durham 28-21 ahead.
The second half became a test of game management for Durham, who held off a Nottingham comeback and added a fifth try just three minutes from time to clinch the victory.
Timmy Gecer, Harry Dawson, Fergus Callington, and Louis Inman (2) were the scorers for a Palatinate side that will travel to Bath in two weeks’ time.
The Women's BUCS Super Rugby Milk Championship semi-finals will also take place after Easter, with league winners Hartpury hosting Brunel and Loughborough taking on Exeter.
Brunel reached the last four with an excellent 36-26 away win over last year's champions Cardiff Met, while Loughborugh hammered Cardiff 82-0 and Exeter edged past Edinburgh 24-14.
