England students and the month ahead for BUCS
England Students will be touring Lisbon on the 21st of January to play the Portugal National Team.
©Vicky Chan
The Christmas holidays are over for the University students up and down the country which means University Rugby is on the verge of resuming for another year. Along with the BUCS league continuing, Talking Rugby Union takes a look at the recent announcement of the England Students Squad which includes a host of BUCS players.
England Students Squad
For people who don’t know what the England Students squad is all about, here is all you need to know.
The main purpose of the England Students squad is to help advance the development of the best University and College based Rugby Players across the UK and bring them into an international rugby environment.
Without a doubt, playing for England students is the highest level of student rugby and it highlights the quality of student rugby. It combines both the needs for players who want to continue in education but also want to pursue a potential career in rugby.
The coaching and management team is made up of the following for the 2014/15 season, Aaron James (Head Coach), Ian Davies (Assistant Coach) and Phil Llewellyn (Manager).
The squad is set to play three games beginning with Portugal in Lisbon on January 24th, before games against France and Wales
Here is the travelling squad for that game against Portugal
Piers Goodwill (Newcastle University)
Alec Clarey (Hartpury)
Alex Westgarth (Northumbria University)
Lovejoy Chawatama (UWE)
Callum O’Connell (Hartpury)
Morgan Robinson-Earnes (Bishops Burton)
Duncan Hales (Exeter University)
George Messum (Oxford University)
Joe Dancer (UWE)
Sebastian Nagle-Taylor (University College London)
Freddie Clarke (Bath University)
Buchan Richardson (Durham University)
An additional forward is still to be confirmed:
Tom Banks (Newcastle University)
Rob Coote (Exeter University)
Will Cargill (Leeds Beckett)
Freddie Gabbitas (Exeter University)
George Boulton (Hartpury)
Lewis Jones (Leeds Beckett)
Luke Peters (Leeds Beckett)
Alex O’Merea (Hartpury)
Jack Rossiter (St Mary’s University)
Ruaridh McConnochie (Gloucestershire University)
Talking Rugby Union will be keeping you up to date throughout the time the students are on duty with England. Now, let’s take a look at what BUCS action we have coming up over the next three weeks.
Premier South A
After a hugely entertaining first half of the season in this division, the University of Exeter lead the way, but it is still extremely tight in this league.
Exeter are five points clear and have won eight of their nine matches this season. They do have Duncan Hales in the England Students squad for their game in Portugal along with Freddie Gabbitas and Rob Coote. Exeter’s George Beale, Paul Davis, Sam Waltier, Alexander Wilcockson and Tom Holdsworth are all in the wider squad.
Exeter have four more games left of the season, but have to play third placed the University of Bath twice. Their first game of 2015 comes on the 4th February when they travel to Bath.
Sandwiched in between Exeter and Bath are Hartpury College who have six players representing them in the England Students team. It’s clear that Alex Brown, Alec Clarey, Callum O’Connell, George Boulton, Michael Flook and Alex O’Merea have played a huge part in their good form this season where they have won six of their nine matches.
Hartpury do not have to play either Exeter or Bath in their remaining games of the 2014/15 season which could be a major advantage to them. They begin 2015 in two weeks’ time at home to fifth place Cardiff Metropolitan.
Bath are currently lying in fourth place in this division and are seven points off top spot, but just two behind Hartpury. They had been on a four game winning run and were top of the league, but their form dipped and have now won just once in their last three games. Freddie Clarke is the only Bath student in the England Students squad and his side resume their BUCS campaign against Exeter in three weeks’ time.
Premier North A
Leeds Beckett have led this league from day one this season so it’s not a surprise to see three of their players have been selected to represent the England Students. Will Cargill, Lewis Jones and Luke Peters are all playing in the opening game against Portugal and will take confidence from their BUCS season so far into that match. Their university have won their last six home matches and they are just a point clear of second placed Loughborough with two games in hand. They host fourth placed Northumbria on the 28th January.
Third placed Durham have three of their players in the England Students squad. Buchan Richardson, Jamie Bache and Jamie Clements have all been included with Richardson in team for the game against Portugal.
In terms of the BUCS league, Durham are four points behind Loughborough with a game in hand and having won their last four, they will look to challenge for promotion and begin 2015 with a crunch match away to Loughborough in two weeks.
Near neighbours Newcastle also have three players in the overall England Students team. Piers Goodwill, Will Eversfield and Tom Banks have all been selected to represent their country. They university made a superb start to the season, but ended 2014 with just one win in four matches. They find themselves in fifth place having lost five of their nine games this season. They host bottom side the University of Leeds two weeks on Wednesday.
Finally, it has been a tough season for the University of Leeds so far, but they would have been pleased to see their very own Sam Brady selected for the England Students squad. It has been a tough first half of the season for Leeds who not won an away fixture in 10 matches and sit bottom of Premier North A with just one win from their nine games so far. They will be hoping that away record is halted when they travel to the North East at the end of the month.
Premier North B
Only one player from Premier North B was selected for the England Students Squad and that was Morgan Robinson-Eames of Bishops Burton, but here what’s coming up from the other sides which Talking Rugby Union follows in this division.
Nottingham Trent’s season seemed to be on a downhill slope at the end of 2014. They began unbeaten in four matches, but since then they have won just once in their last four league games. Despite this, they currently lie third in the league just four points off league leaders Durham 2nds and also have the last 16 of the cup to look forward to where they will face fellow Premier North B side Manchester University in February. They kick-off 2015 next Wednesday with a trip to York 1sts before travelling to Bishops Burton at the end of January.
Manchester University ended 2014 on a high as they stunned Durham 2nds by winning 24-5 at the Armitage Site in their final match before Christmas. Maybe they could have done without the Christmas break as they are currently on a run of just one defeat in nine matches in all competitions. They are currently fourth in the table; six points off the top and host the University of Birmingham 1sts next week before travelling to the Scottish capital to play Edinburgh.
Northern 1A
The University of Liverpool are on a good run of form in Northern 1A as they have five wins from eight matches so far this season which sees them in second place. However, they are 11 points off league leaders the University of Sheffield and with no players in this division being selected for England Students, the league will remain competitive as ever. They host Durham 3rds this Wednesday who they lost 23-15 to in the reverse fixture in October. Durham are sixth in the table with just two wins to their name this season. Liverpool then welcome the University of Leeds 2nds to Merseyside the week after.
Northern 2A
One of the sides which Talking Rugby Union follows is Manchester Met and our very own Max Ashcroft has been named in the England Students Squad. His university has been in scintillating so far this season. They top Northern 2A by four points having won all five of their league games. The only negative is that they were knocked out of the cup by Hull, but nevertheless, they have control proceedings thus far in Northern 2A. They begin 2015 with a home game against third placed UCLan in two weeks’ time.
We did mention UCLan a number of times in 2014 as they went on a run of one win in 20 matches, but that came to an end when they beat Liverpool 2nds 12-3 in their final game before the festive break. They have moved up to third in the league now, but are seven points behind second placed Keele and do begin with that game against Man Met on 28th January.
And finally Edge Hill who are one place below UCLAN. They have won just twice all season in the league and despite being mid-table they are closer to relegation than promotion. One thing they can look forward in 2015 is their Quarter-Final cup tie with Northumbria 2nds which takes place in February. Before that though, they travel to the University of Manchester 2nds at the end of this month.
