After what seemed like an eternity for student rugby fans, the majority of BUCS Rugby Union made its long-awaited return last week. This included the league with arguably the greatest name – BUCS Super Rugby. The top tier of Men’s BUCS Rugby Union definitely did live up to its name in the first round of fixtures post-Christmas. Women’s BUCS Rugby Union also made its comeback this week, with the teams in the second tier looking to hit form at the perfect time in the push for promotion. Freshered has broken down the most important results from the week, detailing the connotations for both promotion and relegation.
Men’s Super Rugby
Three of the top four were in action this week, as the teams continued to try and achieve their goal of being national BUCS Rugby Union champions. Top of the table Durham played host to eighth placed Leeds Beckett, aiming to maintain their comfortable four point gap to second. A comfortable 37-15 win did just that. This sees the team edge closer to lifting the trophy at the season’s end. Second placed Loughborough did manage to keep up the pressure, against a resilient second bottom Swansea. A high-scoring game saw Loughborough take all three points, winning 57-30.
Cardiff Met made light work of bottom side Northumbria, as the Welsh side attempt to close the gap to the top three. A 50-12 victory means they now sit just five points behind Exeter in third, albeit having played an extra game. For Northumbria, relegation seems more and more likely, with the twelve point gap to eighth place seeming more difficult to bridge with every loss. The mid-table clash between Bath and Cardiff was predictably close, with only three points in it. In the end, it was the former who came out 43-40 victors, to remain in sixth place.
Women’s Premier North
The northern half of the women’s second tier saw foreseeable wins for the second and third placed sides. York‘s close 25-19 victory against Leeds Beckett saw the gap between second and first close to only five points. Loughborough 2’s do have a game in hand, though. However, given second teams cannot earn promotion, York look set to contest the promotion playoff. Newcastle seems set to finish the season in third, with an eleven point gap to second, and seven to fourth. A dominant 49-14 trumiph condemned bottom-placed Glasgow to their sixth defeat to the season. The Scottish side sit five points off safety.
Women’s Premier South
First played second this week, although you would not be able to tell given the commanding nature of the result. Exeter extended their lead at the top to five points over second placed Bristol, dishing out a 46-7 thrashing in the South-West derby. A promotion playoff looks almost certain for Exeter. Their victory making it eight wins out of eight. A fifth win of the season for Cardiff extends the gap between third and fourth to 17 points. They dispatched of Oxford 45-10, who sit only four points ahead of bottom placed Swansea.
Result of the Week
Dominant is not a strong enough word to describe the game which earns this week’s title. In the Women’s Midlands Tier 2A, Birmingham 2’s scored 104 points in their fixture against De Montfort 1’s, who only managed five. A winning margin of 99 points would be deserving of Result of the Week every week.