Women’s BUCS Super Rugby Final Preview: A new queen of university rugby is ready to be crowned
Loughborough's Ellen Scantlebury is hoping to use the pain of last year's final in a positive way
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For the first time in six years, there will be a new champion of the women’s student game.
On Wednesday, Loughborough and Cardiff Met face off at Rodney Parade to determine the inaugural Women’s BUCS Super Rugby winners, signalling the end of a dynasty.
For the last three seasons, under the banner of the Women’s National League, Hartpury have occupied the throne at the top of the university game but now a new institution will take the crown.
Hartpury’s reign came to an end in the semi-finals after Cardiff Met produced a gusty performance to book their spot in Newport while after last year’s heartbreak at Saracens’ Stone X Stadium, Loughborough return to the ultimate showdown hungrier than ever.
“I strongly believe that you have to be in a final to win a final, Loughborough flyer and vice-captain Ellen Scantlebury tells TRU. “What I mean by that is I think you have to go through the hardship of losing one to be able to be in a position to win it.
“There are a lot of girls leaving as well this year, myself included. I think that's also going be something that will play massively into the occasion. It's your last 80 minutes you're going to play for Loughborough, so we just have to leave everything on the pitch and I think if we're able to do that, I'd like to think we can come away with a result.
“I'm fired up just talking about it,” Scantlebury’s co-captain Lucy Finch adds.
“I'm ready to go, and I just think the whole team has that energy about us. We’re going to go out there to prove that we deserve to be there and take it home this year.
“We have a sort of policy right now with the team that yesterday is history so we're really focusing on everything, all the hard work we put into this season matters, but it won't count for anything if we can't perform on the day.”
Both Finch and Scantlebury started last year’s final 34-22 defeat against Hartpury but there is a feeling that perhaps the women in African Violet might just be peaking at the right time.
Loughborough - who finished third in the league campaign - were unbeaten at home and including their two victories in the knockout stages, they are currently on a six-game winning streak.
They booked their place in the final for the second year in a row following a 39-31 win over arch-rivals Exeter down in the South West, with Scantlebury at her dazzling best.
“We often spoke about it last year as well, our form at the business end of the season,” she adds. “Everyone talks a lot about winning the league, and it's a great thing to do, but ultimately, everyone remembers who wins the cup. That’s what feels the best.
“I think the semi-final was a pretty big result for us. We knew going into that that Exeter were going to throw the kitchen sink at us. They weren’t going to want to have lost the last two semis, but I think it was a really good performance for us.”
Finch, who was named in last year’s WNL team of the season, added: “I think for us to come away with a win two years in a row is a testament to the drive we have as a team.”
Perhaps one of the main reasons for Loughborough's appearance in back-to-back finals is the growing relationship the university has with Premiership Women’s Rugby outfit Loughborough Lightning.
Finch, Scantlebury and a whole host of players starting in Wednesday’s final have all had game time in the PWR this season and have relished their opportunities.
“Having a lot of players in our starting lineup who also play Lightning and are also in that environment really just elevates us as a whole,” Finch explains.
“For us to learn from those international players on a daily basis in and out of training has literally elevated us. I think it's one of the reasons we've become so successful as a team.”
And for head coach Matt Campbell, he added how important the Lightning set-up is to their programme.
“Those players getting experience there, they might go into a Lightning environment and kind of not necessarily be a leader, but then, as soon as they come back in to us, they've had the experience of playing at a really high level,” Campbell adds.
“That immediately gives them the opportunity to lead in the BUCS environment.”
Whilst it might not be a shot at revenge against Hartpury in this year's final, Loughborough find themselves up against an equally tough opponent.
It was one victory apiece in the league between Cardiff Met and Loughborough, with the African Violet only just sealing a 13-12 win at home back in February thanks to a last-minute penalty.
“They're a team that from the off wants to be physical. They always go really hard at the breakdown,” Cambell says.
“Where we came unstuck against them was not looking after our own ball. The first job just needs to be protecting the contact area. I think in the game that we won, we conceded 28 turnovers. That’s a massive amount of ball to give away, so it's not surprising that the game was so close.
“You saw in their semi-final that they were able to spoil any kind of opportunity that Hartpury had. For us to be successful, we'll need to be able to string a few phases together, but if they're able to disrupt things, that's kind of where they get their wins in the game.”
As for Cardiff Met, it perhaps wasn't the league run they had dreamt of - finishing fifth with only six wins to their name.
However, they have exceeded all expectations by booking their spot in a first top-flight final for nine years after a gritty 19-12 victory over Hartpury two weeks ago.
“We went into that as underdogs, so to come out on top was extremely special,” Cardiff Met captain and 2023-24 WNL team of the season back row Jess Rogers tells TRU.
“We’ve worked really hard on performances and breaking the game down into smaller chunks, and as a team, we just won more battles than Hartpury did and I was really pleased with the performance,” head coach Lisa Newton adds.
“It's been nine years since Cardiff Met have been in a final. That’s a considerable amount of time, but we’ve talked about how it could be a distraction with the emotion, but we’ve done our best to address those things early on in the build-up.
“That way, we can get down to business when we come to Wednesday and we can recognise it’s the same 80 minutes we’ve been playing all year.
“I’m incredibly proud of this programme. Some of the girls in the matchday squad have been with me since I came to Met over the last five years.
“I think to have their journey end with a final, regardless of the result, is a huge achievement for those girls and credit to them.
“I really hope more than just how much I’m proud of them is that they are proud of themselves and what they’ve created here because it’s definitely a legacy.”
Newton was part of the last ‘legacy’ created by Cardiff Met when The Archers went on to become one of the most successful sides in university sport by lifting their 10th title at Twickenham back in 2016.
The current boss captained the side during their 2010 success but now it is Rogers who is looking to follow in the footsteps of her coach.
“It’s knockout rugby, it’s a final,” she says. “At the end of the day, it’s going to be the same sort of thing as the semi; staying in the fight for one another.
“I’ve just been talking to the squad about embracing it, being in the moment, and doing everything you can.
“In the forwards, we want to bring that physicality, but also, we want to play that free-flowing rugby and just play what’s in front of us.
“You can’t put it into words about how it would feel to lift that trophy on Wednesday, but it would mean the absolute world to all of us to achieve that.”
