Last updated: 14/05/08
Hartpury retain BUSA Championship

UWE Hartpury 23
Loughborough 15

On April 23 UWE Hartpury and Loughborough’s rugby players fulfilled the dream of every rugby player by playing at Twickenham, the home of English rugby. The two teams were meeting in the BUSA Rugby Union Championship finals with Hartpury looking to retain their crown.

Both sides had been followed into London by a noisy group of supporters who created a rowdy atmosphere prior to kick-off and the players seemed inspired as the match started at breakneck pace.

It seemed as though Hartpury had really given their vociferous fans something to shout about after just five minutes as winger Daniel Norton beat his man at the line but he could not ground the ball and Loughborough narrowly escaped.

Hartpury did manage to open the scoring just five minutes later as Tim Stevenson kicked a penalty for the west england university. Stevenson, Hartpury’s fly half and Captain, performed well throughout with a fine display of passing which maintained his side’s attacking rhythm and some vital points with the boot.

Stevenson’s penalty seemed to kick Loughborough into life and they finally achieved a spell of concerted pressure in the Hartpury half. This produced the first try as openside flanker Jamie Thompson went over the line after a strong Loughborough maul. Grant Pointer’s missed conversion left the score at 5 - 3 to Loughborough.

While Loughborough’s first try was the result of some sturdy forward play, Hartpury’s was a free flowing move from their backs. Paul Havea beat his man before offloading to Andries Pretorius who found the on rushing Peter Swatkins with a perfect flat pass for the winger to score the try. The missed conversion made the score 8 - 3 to Hartpury.

Tim Stevenson atoned for his conversion miss with a penalty to extend the Hartpury lead to 11 - 5 just before half-time but there was still time for Loughborough to snatch the lead back once more in this see-saw first half. Loughborough captain Steve Collins flicked the ball to centre Giles Pryor who was tackled just short of the line before second row Jon Ashton scooped up the ball and drove over. Grant Pointer’s conversion ensured Loughborough went into the break 12 - 11 up.

Loughborough started the second half in the same manner as they finished the first and this pressure produced an early penalty. Pointer was successful with his kick once again, extending his side’s lead to 15 - 11.

Those would be the final points of the game for Loughborough as they seemed to run out of steam and, in contrast, Hartpury went from strength to strength.
The tide began to turn with a superb try from Hartpury.

Stevenson jinked past a couple of Loughborough tackles and found Andries Pretorius who was tackled just short of the line but managed to feed flanker Andrew Rose from the ground for the try. Stevenson’s missed conversion meant that the game was still finely poised at 16 - 15.

The decisive try came fifteen minutes from the end after Peter Swatkins had again utilised his pace to get within inches of the Loughborough line. Replacement Matt Gilbert was on hand to pick up the ball and drive over the line and this time Stevenson made no mistake with the conversion to put daylight between the two sides at 23 - 15.

With the final in such a grandiose surrounding the standard of this final could easily have not lived up to the location but the two sides gave a great account of BUSA university rugby. With several youth internationals and professional academy players on display some of the players in this final may not have played their last match at Twickenham.

by George Kotschy