Loughborough move to the summit of Super Rugby

With Hartpury College not in action until Friday, Loughborough have gone top of BUCS Super Rugby thanks to a victory over Leeds Beckett.

The Midlands side came away from Yorkshire with their fifth win of the season and now they lead the way by three points in this division. However, their time at the top could be short lived as Hartpury College have the chance to knock them off their perch when the Gloucestershire outfit take on Northumbria on Friday night.

Elsewhere, Exeter’s excellent recent run of results continued as the current BUCS Champions beat Cardiff Met to make it four wins on the spin.

In other news across our featured BUCS leagues this week, both Nottingham and Bristol remain top of their respective divisions despite not picking up a win while the 100 per cent records of Edinburgh and Liverpool continued. In the Women’s competition, Loughborough closed the gap on Premier North A league leaders Northumbria while reigning BUCS holders Cardiff Met picked up another victory.

BUCS Super Rugby

Leeds Beckett 13-27 Loughborough Students

Loughborough climbed to the top of the BUCS Super Rugby table thanks to a hard-fought win over Leeds Beckett.

The Midlands side led 15-10 at half-time thanks to a try from Brendon Mandivenga while Ben Dixon crossed for Beckett.

William Elt’s touchdown put Loughborough further ahead after half-time, but Beckett responded from the tee to reduce the visitors’ lead to seven points.

But a fourth try late on for Loughborough sealed their fifth win of the season as they moved to the summit of BUCS Super Rugby while Leeds Beckett remain rooted to the foot of the table as they have lost all six of their matches so far.

Exeter 49-29 Cardiff Met

Exeter continued their recent good form in BUCS Super Rugby as they ran in six tries to beat Cardiff Met.

Inspired by two excellent tries from Tom Lawday, Keith Fleming’s men overcame a slow start to take control and earn their fourth straight victory.

Both of Lawday’s tries came in the second-half, one of which was a solo run from inside his own 22, after Exeter had carried a 28-10 lead into the break.

Cardiff Met were quickest out the blocks with the division’s top scorer Tom Morgan giving the visitors and early lead from the tee before Edoardo Balocco touched down for a deserved try.

Exeter then sparked into life as scores from Matt Elliet, Ed Landray and Jack Owlett as well as a Penalty Try gave them their half-time advantage.

Met were reduced to 14 men after that Penalty Try, but they responded by scoring the first try of the second period as Ryan Springs bundled his way over.

Lawday’s first try of the afternoon gave Exeter some breathing space on 52 minutes, but once again Cardiff hit back and reduced the home sides’ lead to six points as Oliver Glasse and Miles Moorhouse both crossed.

With 10 minutes remaining, it seemed like all the momentum was with Cardiff but the wind was taken out of their sails by a superb individual try by Lawday before Owlett grabbed his second of the day to wrap up proceedings.

Elsewhere across BUCS

In North A, the University of Nottingham fell to a 38-10 defeat against Newcastle away from home which was the league leaders’ second defeat in three weeks. Their city rivals, Nottingham Trent, could have gone to the summit of this division with a win but a last-gasp try saw Bishop Burton beat them 25-24. Elsewhere, Birmingham made it two wins in a row as they beat Durham 2nds 39-22.

The University of Bristol do remain top of South A despite only managing a 12-12 draw against Hartpury College 2nds. Their lead at the summit is seven points as second placed Cardiff University edged out USW 13-5 in Wales. The other fixtures in this division saw Swansea move up to fourth in the table following a narrow 21-20 win over Exeter 2nds while the University of the West of England came away from King’s College London with a 29-25 victory.

League leaders the University of Edinburgh were back in action in North B this week and they maintained their 100 per cent start to the season. They beat Loughborough 3rds 33-21 on the road to secured their fifth straight win of the campaign. Second placed Durham 3rds suffered their first defeat of the season as they lost 28-8 to the University of St Andrews who are now level on points with the north-east side. In the other fixture in this division, Strathclyde picked up their third win of the term as they hammered Manchester 60-19.

In South B, Cardiff Met 2nds are now up to second in the table after their 65-10 win over Portsmouth who have now shipped 126 points in the last two weeks. Elsewhere, St Mary’s returned to winning ways as they beat Bristol 2nds 55-15.

Northern 1A leaders the University of Sheffield responded to their first defeat of the season in style as they comfortably beat bottom of the table Lancaster 38-0. Their lead at the top is a slender one though, as Leeds Beckett 2nds made it three wins out of three as they beat Durham 4ths 55-10. The victory moves them to within two points of Sheffield and they also have two games in hand. Elsewhere, Newcastle 2nds secured their second win of the term as they defeated Hull 27-12.

After a week of cup action involving sides in Northern 2A, league commitments were back on the agenda and the University of Liverpool continued their perfect start to the season. The Merseyside club beat Keele 32-13 to secure their fifth win from five matches so far to move 10 points clear at the top. Second placed Manchester Met do have a game in hand and they also got their job done yesterday by beating Bangor 29-7 in Wales. Elsewhere, UCLan claimed their second win of the season as they won 26-10 against Chester.

Northern 2B also returned after a week of cup duty and league leaders Leeds Beckett 3^rd suffered their first defeat of the season as they were beaten by fierce rivals Leeds 2nds 25-15 which was Leeds Uni’s maiden win of the campaign. In the other fixture in this division, Sheffield Hallam edged out Northumbria 2nds 18-15 to stay second in the table.

In Midlands 1A this week, Leicester stretched their lead at the top of the table thanks to a resounding 65-5 win over second played Nottingham Trent 2nds. Leicester’s lead is now five points at the summit because Nottingham 2nds have now jumped into second place thanks to a 35-12 win against Harper Adams. Elsewhere, third placed Warwick also picked up a comfortable win as they beat bottom of the table Bedford 43-10 away from home. In Midlands 2A, Birmingham 3rds are up to third following a 43-0 thrashing of Harper Adams 2nds.

Away from the Men's BUCS competition, Basil Strang cemented his place for Oxford University in the upcoming 135th Varsity match with a sparking display in their 39-5 win over Major Stanley yesterday.

Strang went over for the opening try before going on to score 20 points to help his side to victory as they continue their build up to their Varsity match at Twickenham against Cambridge on December 8th.

Back to the BUCS action and into the Women’s competition. Premier North A league leaders Northumbria were not in action this week, but second placed Loughborough emphatically closed the gap at the top to three points as they thrashed Leeds Beckett 70-24 at Epinal Way. Elsewhere, Durham secured their third win of the season by beating near neighbours Newcastle 25-0.

In Premier South A, Cardiff Met remain top of the table as they produced a hard-fought 12-0 win against Exeter in tough conditions. Elsewhere, Bristol sealed their third win of the campaign as they handsomely beat Cambridge 40-0 while Oxford edged out Gloucestershire 15-12 for their maiden win of the season. 

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