Teams hoping for BUCS Rugby Finals glory will be competing for the top prize at the StoneX Stadium, home of Saracens.
The stadium will host the finals of the Super Rugby and National Championships, the top prize for university rugby’s mens and womens sides respectively.
The finals will take place on Wednesday 19 April, and replace Sixways Stadium in Worcester as the host for the 2022/23 edition.
Teams hoping to make the BUCS Rugby Finals have to go through a rigorous playoff system to earn the right to battle it out at the StoneX.
The BUCS Super Rugby and BUCS Rugby National League tables do play a role. However, a first-place finish does not guarantee a place in the finals.
How do BUCS Super Rugby teams make the final ?
In BUCS Super Rugby, the top eight of the ten teams in the league will qualify for the quarter finals, meaning a side who finishes as low as eighth can go on to glory.
Finishing higher up the table does hold some advantage, as it means the side will only face lower-ranked teams on thier way to the final.
In the quarters, 1st plays 8th, 3rd plays 6th, 2nd plays 7th, and 4th face off against 5th. The winners of the first two and latter two then face off in the semi-finals to determine the finalists.
How do BUCS Rugby National League teams make the final?
Teams from the BUCS Rugby National League hoping to make the final go through a similar process, but there is more advantage in finishing higher up the table.
This is because the teams who finish 1st and 2nd are given a bye in the quarter finals, with all six sides from the league making it to at least this stage.
3rd plays 6th and 4th goes up against 5th, with 1st playing the winner of the former, and 2nd facing the victor in the latter in the semi-finals for a place in the BUCS Rugby Finals.
Edinburgh’s Meryl Smith exemplified the talent on offer on 2022 finals day, as she has now earned four caps for Scotland, including representing her national team at the 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. She also played for Scotland in the rugby sevens at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
A look back at last year’s finals
Last year’s finals were full of thrills and spills as it was Exeter Men and Hartpury Women who earned their respective crowns.
Hartpury were able to get the better of Edinburgh in a high-scoring affair that ended 36-22, with Exeter finally getting their hands on the title by a single point, defeating Durham 14-13 in the epitome of a great final.
Sixways acted as a fitting host as there was a great deal of talent on display in both aspects of the competition. 11 players who took part in the finals have gone on to play in the professional game, with the number going up to 37 when the rest of the teams in the top tier are taken into consideration.
Player of the match in the men’s final, Dafydd Jenkins, is arguably the stand-out. Since the final, he has gone on to become the youngest captain in Premiership Rugby history, as well as earning his international debut for Wales against Georgia, and making an appearance against Ireland in the Guinness Six Nations.
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