Christmas cheer for Loughborough

Things are looking rosy for Loughborough University heading into the Christmas break as two of their sides top their respective divisions.

Their 1^st XV once again did the double over Leeds Beckett to make it eight wins from eight while their 2^nd XV also have a 100 per cent record as they head toward 2016.

In other BUCS news, Newcastle University remain in a Champions Trophy place in Premier North A, while Hartpury College closed the gap at the top of National Two South.

Elsewhere, the University of Manchester claimed a vital win as did the University of Hull and the University of Leicester as the majority of teams ended their BUCS campaign for Christmas this week.

Premier North A

Loughborough University maintained their 100 per cent record this season as they stayed top of Premier North A after securing a 31-11 bonus point win against title rivals Leeds Beckett.

Barr Bartlett converted Dan Watt’s try and added a penalty to give Loughborough a 10-5 lead at half-time, with Leeds Beckett replying with a try of their own.

Beckett then kicked two penalties after the break to give themselves the lead, but the hosts hit back with a score from a rolling maul to regain the advantage.

At 17-11, the floodlights went out at Rugby Rubbercrumb but the light was burning bright in this Loughborough performance as the home side went over again from a rolling maul before Austin Beckett sealed the bonus point.

Loughborough remain the only unbeaten team in Premier North A this season and recorded their eighth consecutive victory of the campaign as they lead the division with just four games to go until the Champions Trophy knockout matches.

A hat-trick of penalty tries for Newcastle University helped them to a dominant 42-12 victory against a winless University of Nottingham.

The third penalty try of the afternoon sealed a bonus point for Newcastle and a fifth win of the season and their second this campaign over Nottingham.

A breakaway try and two tries in the final quarter of the game were added to Newcastle’s total as they strolled to their first bonus point victory of the season and are now level with Durham as the race for the Champions Trophy places hots up.

Northumbria University v Durham University was postponed yesterday due to adverse weather conditions at Kingston Park which meant the roof was damaged.

Results

Loughborough University 31-11 Leeds Beckett

Northumbria University P-P Durham University

Newcastle University 42-12 University of Nottingham

Premier South A

Hartpury College moved to within a point of league leaders the University Exeter after a 38-6 win over the University of Bristol.

With Exeter not in action this week, it was the chance for Hartpury to crank up the pressure on the table toppers and they didn’t pass up the opportunity.

College secured a bonus point before the break as they carried in a 24-3 lead at half-time against an injury hit Bristol side that had seven first choice forwards missing for this encounter.

After the restart, it got worse for Bristol as they were forced to play the majority of the half with 14 men due to two more injuries.

They continued to battle on and were rewarded with a try of their own, but it was sandwiched in between try number five and six for the hosts who have now more or less secured a Champions Trophy place.

Cardiff Met finished their pre-Christmas BUCS fixtures with a win as they beat rivals Cardiff University 28-7.

Met are now up to third in the league and have a 10 point cushion inside the Champions Trophy places after winning five of their nine games so far this season. As for Cardiff, they remain 6^th with just one win to their name and five points clear of the relegation place.

Results

Hartpury College 38-6 University of Bristol

Cardiff Met 28-7 Cardiff University

Premier North B

Like their university 1^st XV, Loughborough 2nds also have a 100 per cent record as they made it seven wins from seven thanks to a 28-7 win over title chasing Bishops Burton College.

Sam Barnes’ try was backed up by a score from Harry Priestner and a penalty from Joe Carolan to give Loughborough a 13-7 half-time lead, with Bishop Burton replying only after Jon Hughes was shown a yellow card for the hosts.

Carolan scored the opening try of the second half before Luke Chitty secured the bonus point to give Loughborough a 23-7 advantage.

Chitty was then sin-binned, but Bishops Burton couldn’t capitalise on the extra man this time as Richie Lewis rounded off a breakaway from Barnes to wrap up the victory for Loughborough.

Third place Nottingham Trent University made it three wins in a row as they beat the University of Worcester 31-19 as they did the double over the West Midlands side. Trent have now won six games this season while Worcester have dropped into the relegation places after this defeat.

The reason why Worcester are now down in 7^th place is because the University of Manchester pulled off a superb win at home as they beat Durham 2nds 21-12 with the pick of the tries coming from Lewis Hamilton.

Manchester are now out of the drop zone on points difference having securing their third win of the season while Durham stay 4^th

Results

Loughborough University 2nds 28-7 Bishops Burton College

Nottingham Trent University 31-19 University of Worcester

University of Manchester 21-12 Durham 2nds

Northern 1A

League leaders Durham University 3rds’ top of the table clash with Leeds Beckett 2nds did not take place yesterday meaning the University of Hull closed the gap on the front runners to two points after a 29-8 win over bottom side the University of York.

The home side led 10-8 at the break as George Fosselius crossed for Hull while Robbie Davidson exchange penalties with his opposite number before York dotted down on the stroke of half-time.

Hull exerted their dominance after the break as they barged their way over for their second try of the afternoon before Will Simpson scored an excellent try to leave 10 minutes left in game for the hosts to secure a bonus point.

And they did just that as they stretched their unbeaten run to 11 games at Fernes as they continue to impress after promotion into this division.

After a long trip up north to Newcastle, the University of Liverpool suffered their fifth defeat of the season as they were beaten 36-25 by Newcastle University 2nds.

The hosts led 24-10 at half-time after scoring three tries in the first 10 minutes with recent heavy winds aiding Newcastle in the first period.

Liverpool flew out of the blocks after the break as they got a try back before both sides exchanged scores to make it 29-20.

Moments after the Merseysiders had secured a bonus point, the home side piled over to put the game beyond Liverpool who remain 5^th in the table while Newcastle are level on points with Hull.

Results

University of Hull 29-8 University of York

Newcastle University 2nds 36-25 University of Liverpool

Midlands 1A

Loughborough 3rds picked up their sixth win of the season as they beat Oxford Brooks University 33-8 and they are level on points at the top of Midlands 1A with the University of Warwick who edged out the University of Nottingham 3rds 31-38.

Elsewhere, the University of Leicester returned to winning ways as they beat Coventry University 36-15 with Brandon Johnson scoring a hat-trick as Coventry have now lost all eight of their matches this season while Harper Adams University ended 2015 with a narrow 8-11 win over the University of Nottingham 3rds.

Results

Loughborough 3rds 33-8 Oxford Brooks University

University of Nottingham 3rds 31-38 University of Warwick

University of Leicester 36-15 Coventry University

University of Nottingham 4ths 8-11 Harper Adams University

Northern 2A

The final game in this division before the Christmas break saw Keele University edge out the University of Liverpool 2nds 24-21 away from home.

Keele remain 2^nd in Northern 2A and are now three points behind Lancaster, but they do have two games in hand. As for Liverpool they stay 5^th in the table with just one win to their name this season.

Result

University of Liverpool 2nds 21-24 Keele University

Midlands 2A

Like, Northern 2A, Midlands 2A served up just one game this week and it was Nottingham Trent University 2nds who are now two points off the top of the league after a 38-5 win over neighbours the University of Nottingham 4ths.

Trent are now on the tails of Harper Adams College 2nds and they do have a game in hand while Nottingham remain 4^th with just a single win to show for the efforts thus far this season.

Result

Nottingham Trent University 2nds 38-5 University of Nottingham 4ths