Title in reach as Loughborough shine again

Loughborough University are on the brink of securing the Premier North A title for the first time since 2010 after making it nine wins in a row on Wednesday meaning they just need one more victory to become champions.

Their challenge was aided by Durham University as were impressive on their way to beating second place Leeds Beckett who sit seven points behind Loughborough having played a game more.

In the South, Hartpury College have gone top of the Premier Division with Exeter absent from action for this week while Cardiff University took a step on the road to survival with a vital win over the University of South Wales in their derby clash.

Elsewhere across the BUCS leagues, Loughborough 2nds remain top of Premier North A while Nottingham Trent produced an outstanding display to begin their second half of the campaign.

There were also crucial wins for different reasons for Durham 3rds and the University of York in Northern 1A.

If your university would like to be featured each week, please tweet us @TalkRugbyUnion!

Premier North A

Loughborough University continued their charge towards the Premier North A title as they maintained their 100 per cent record after securing a 6-22 win away at Newcastle University.

John Sharp converted a try and added a penalty to give Loughborough a 3-10 lead at half-time, with Ben Nicholls replying with a penalty of his own for Newcastle.

Nicholls then landed another penalty after the break to reduce the deficit to four points, but from their Loughborough showed why they are champions elect as they pulled away from their north-east hosts.

Dan Watt rounded off a spell of pressure by the visitors to go over before Loughborough used their power upfront to force their way across the whitewash for one final time to make it 6-22 only after Goodwill was shown a yellow card for Newcastle.

Loughborough remain the only unbeaten team in Premier North A this season and recorded their ninth consecutive victory of the campaign as they lead the division by seven points meaning just one more win, will seal the title for them.

As for Newcastle, this is the first time they have finished in the top four for six years and they will be in the Champions Trophy Finals over the next month or so.

Newcastle Coach Matthew Carter said: “It’s to both universities credit that the game was played in a really competitive spirit and congratulations to Loughborough winning on the day

“We stayed in touch and were hopeful of picking up at least a bonus point with 10 minutes to go but to Loughborough’s great credit they pulled away from us towards the end.”

The reason why the gap at the top of Premier North A has increased is because Leeds Beckett were beaten 32-21 by Durham University.

Having seen old boy Josh Beaumount selected in England’s squad for the upcoming Six Nations last week, this was another afternoon for Durham to smile about as they ran in five tries against the current champions.

The hosts raced into a 25-0 half-time lead and in doing so secured the bonus point after some lovely flowing rugby opened up the Beckett defence and presented opportunities for Durham which they didn’t pass up.

After the break, Beckett bucked up their ideas as a try from a driving maul and a mistake by Durham gifted the away side 14 points and a route back into this contest.

However, Durham stopped them in their tracks as they capitalised on some slack clearance play by Leeds to score their fifth try of the afternoon and make the score 32-14.

Beckett weren’t done just yet though as they were awarded a Penalty Try 18 minutes later, but they had left it too late to turn this game around after an explosive first half from Durham.

Results

Newcastle University 6-22 Loughborough University

Durham University 32-21 Leeds Beckett University

Premier South A

With the University of Exeter not in action, Hartpury College moved top of Premier South A by four points after a 22-34 win over Cardiff Met.

With Exeter taking on Hartpury in two weeks’ time, this was the chance for Hartpury to crank up the pressure on their title rivals and they didn’t pass up the opportunity.

Hartpury have won eight of their nine games this season with their one defeat coming against Exeter on November 4^th away from home. College have also secured their Champions Trophy Finals spot for the fifth consecutive year as they look to regain the trophy from Leeds Beckett once again.

As for Cardiff Met, they sit third in the league and need just a point to make their Champions Trophy place secure and coach Chris Davey thinks his side still need to improve.

“We have a very inexperienced team this year with eight or nine freshers regularly starting in our 1st XV. Consequently, our performances have lacked any real consistency.  We are pleased be close to qualifying for the knock-out stages but will have to improve significantly in the coming weeks to pose any real threat to the top four sides.”

Elsewhere in Premier South A, Cardiff University picked up their second win of the season as they beat the University of South Wales 15-10 in a relegation battle.

It topped off a great couple of days for Cardiff as their flanker Shaun Evans was named in England’s U20 Six Nations squad.

Cardiff are now five points clear of USW with both sides having three more games left to play of the domestic season. The USW have won just once this campaign and that came in the return fixture against Cardiff, but they will need to turn their form around quickly otherwise it will be an immediate return to Premier South B.

Results

Cardiff Met 22-34 Hartpury College

Cardiff University 15-10 University of South Wales

Premier North B

Like their university 1^st XV, Loughborough 2nds also have a 100 per cent record as they made it eight wins from eight thanks to a 21-13 win over title chasing Durham 2nds.

Loughborough, who promoted from Midlands 1A last term, currently sit two points clear at the top of Premier North B and need a maximum of four wins to win the title and have shot at Premier North A.

As for Durham 2nds, they are fourth in the league after four wins this season from nine games, but have won just one of their last eight matches in all competitions.

With Bishops Burton not in action this week, Nottingham Trent University are up to second in the table as they began 2016 with a superb 54-3 win over the University of Birmingham.

Trent’s forwards dominated proceedings in the first half as their power up front led to three tries coming from scrums and mauls before two moments of magic  from Cal Hall secured the bonus point for the hosts who had ran riot in the first period.

It didn’t get much better for Birmingham after the break, who sit just a point clear of the bottom two, despite Trent being reduced to 14 men right at the start of the second half.

It was the hosts who continued to be on the front foot and touched down their sixth try of the afternoon as George Trimmer scored to make it 40-3.

Birmingham were still making chances but couldn’t make any headway as Trent crossed for their seventh try as Hall dotted down for his hat-trick before Josh Poullet rounded off a rampant afternoon for the home side.

In the other game in Premier North B, the University of Worcester came away from Scotland with a 34-47 win over the University of St Andrews which was their third triumph of the season.

Worcester led 5-40 at half time before a stunning comeback by St Andrews saw them score 29 points but time ran out and it was too little too late as the Saints remain bottom of the division.

Results

Loughborough University 2nds 21-13 Durham 2nds

Nottingham Trent University 54-3 University of Birmingham

University of St Andrews 34-47 University of Worcester

Northern 1A

League leaders Durham University 3rds’ remain top of Northern 1A as they beat last year’s champions the University of Sheffield 26-20.

Durham have won all seven of their games in this division this term and find themselves nine points clear at the summit after this latest win while Sheffield just haven’t had the season they would’ve expected.

The current holders have won four of their nine matches this season and sit fifth in the table so they will be hoping for a strong second half of the season.

The University of York took a huge stride towards safety in Northern 1A as they beat Newcastle 2nds 18-24 away from home which was their second win of the campaign.  

The visitors did have a lead of 3-24, but the home side fought back to set up a nail-biting finish. However, York held on for a vital victory which now leaves them nine points from safety, but with still a lot of rugby to be played.

Results

Durham University 3rds 26-20 University of Sheffield

Newcastle University 2nds 18-24 University of York

Midlands 1A

The top three sides in Midlands 1A weren’t action this week, but fourth place Harper Adams University picked up their fifth win of the season with a 17-32 victory over Coventry University.

Harper Adams do sit 10 points behind league leaders Loughborough 3rds while Coventry remain rock bottom of this division having lost all nine of their matches this season and are still without a point since promotion into this tier of BUCS rugby.

Result

Coventry University 17-32 Harper Adams University