Durham Manage to Hold onto Unbeaten University Record

In the Northern A league yesterday those men in purple were at it again, as reigning champions Durham continued their unbeaten run this season; however, it wasn’t without a fight.

The Champions welcomed local rivals Northumbria to the Maiden Castle 3G for a titanic clash between North Eastern heavyweights.

It was the home side who got the scoring underway with an early penalty that was then soon cancelled out by Northumbria – 3-3.

Moments later Northumbria went off their feet at a ruck and Durham managed to convert the penalty into three more points, as they took the lead once again.

Another penalty widened the gap, as Durham took hold of a six point advantage; however, the BUCS Champions looked to be playing well within themselves as the difficult, wet conditions dominated the majority of the game.

However, it was then the turn of the visitors to show what they could do, as some poor missed tackles resulted in a Northumbria try in the corner. A missed conversion kept them one point a drift of the lead.

In almost rapid succession Northumbria broke through the purple defence and crossed the whitewash again, as Durham gave one of their worst defensive displays in recent years. The extras were added and the visitors took a 15-9 lead into the break.

The reigning champions looked to be lacking all fight and desire, as all credit should be put on Northumbria with a commanding first half away from home.

Only minutes into the second stanza, though, Durham fought back hard and answered the crowds with their first try of the game. An impressive conversion from out wide gave Durham a one point lead.

The second half was an enthralling topsy-turvy score-fest, as Northumbria immediately replied with a try of their own. 20-16 Northumbria.

True to fashion, it was now Durham’s turn to hit back with a try; it came from a lineout and driving maul as the forwards touched the ball down over the line. 23-20 Durham.

Northumbria replied soon after, when an awful kick-chase from Durham allowed the visiting backs to pass their way over the line.

Finally, it was Durham Captain, Sean Robinson, who took the lead for the home side once again, after he charged down a kick, gathered the ball and took it over the line. Durham lead 30-27.

With the clock winding down the visitors had two penalty attempts on goal to firstly level the scores and then possibly take the lead. However, the Northumbria fly-half could not convert either golden opportunity in the dying minutes, as nerves seemed to get the better.

Durham Head Coach Alex Keay told Talking Rugby Union that “I thought Northumbria played really well, you’ve got to be fair to them; they had a great game.

“It wasn’t our best day at the office, but we kept a lot of composure at the end and probably, just, still did enough.

“I think their view was that they played the best rugby they had for the past few years and I think that’s where we’re at, at the moment.

“When you set yourselves up to be at the top of the pile, you’ve got to start learning to live as Champions a little bit.”

With Northumbria leading the way, and dictating the play for the majority of the game, Coach Keay added that he thought “we were just a bit too casual; we made a lot of mistakes. But I don’t mean to take anything away from them, as I said, they played very well.

“They made it quite clear that this was a massive game for them over here; a lot of sides are starting to do that now and we have to react to it.

“We didn’t play with enough poise, our basics weren’t good enough until it mattered right at the end.”

Durham have a week off next week and he added that “we have plenty to work on over the next couple of weeks.”

The men in purple host Loughborough University when they return to action in two weeks’ time and Durham know it’s going to be another difficult game for them:

“Loughborough will always bring an enormous challenge to us: they’re a very good side, they always are.

“But I think it will be good for us, we need a big test, so playing that quality of side will be good for us. We are looking forward to the challenge again.”