OBURFC 1st XV got their BUCS league campaign off to the perfect start, claiming a convincing 52-19 win over Aston University 1st XV. Tom Macdonald scored two tries to claim the man-of-the-match award, whilst Alex Copinger-Symes and Joe Hunt also shone for the hosts. Ed Berridge, Bruce Spencer, Ben Dickson, and Dylan Kennerell-Walters also got on the scoreboard to highlight a dominant attacking performance.
Brookes 1st XV have made a habit of scoring early, and their fast start continued with the first game of the league campaign, with Berridge muscling his way over the try line after some impressive carrying from the forwards to give the hosts the lead after seven minutes, Hunt having no problem with the conversion. Seven minutes later, Brookes had their second try, Spencer diving over to claim his third try in two weeks and continue a fast start for the 1st XV. Hunt once again stepped up to add the extras to give Brookes a 14-0 lead after as many minutes.

Brookes were unrelenting in their carrying, and crossed the whitewash for a third time in the twentieth minute when Ben Dickson crashed over from close-range, Hunt nailing the conversion again to make it 21-0 after just 20 minutes. However, the dream start for Brookes came to an end eight minutes later, Aston crossing with their first major attack to get on the scoreboard and trail 21-7. However, they gifted Brookes the next score, Copinger-Symes intercepting a poor pass from Aston to race under the posts to guarantee a try-bonus point for OBURFC 1st XV with just 30 minutes played. Aston struck back five minutes later, taking a quick penalty to score their second try and reduce the deficit to 28-12. Those would be the final points scored in a breathless first half, with the hosts in a healthy lead at half-time.

Brookes would make another quick start in the second half, Joe Hunt scoring Brookes’ fifth try just four minutes in, and whilst he was unable to land the conversion, the hosts still enjoyed a 33-12 lead. However, Aston scored just three minutes after Hunt’s try, clawing the scoreboard back to 33-19 and looking to get their own try-bonus point. After a tense period of the game in which both teams searched for a potentially crucial score, Tom Macdonald crashed over for the first of his two tries in the 62nd minute, and although the conversion was missed, Brookes could start to breathe a little easier at 38-19. Macdonald then grabbed his second try in 10 minutes, crossing from short-range to cap off a superb performance from the #7. With Hunt nailing the conversion, Brookes 1st XV had an unassailable 45-19 lead with 73 minutes played. However, there would be time for one more try, Kennerell-Walters going over in the final play of the match to hit fifty for Brookes, Hunt getting the routine conversion to take his personal points tally to 17. The final score read 52-19.

Director of Rugby Joe Winpenny said following the game “As starts to league campaigns go, we couldn’t be happier with the result, especially as we secured the try-scoring bonus point in the first half. The pleasing thing was how our pack dominated the opposition for a second week running, they are laying some great foundations for our high numbers to strike from”. However, Winpenny also pointed to the lapses in defence, saying “We are not happy with the way we defended, we missed far too may one-on-one tackles which will be punished by some of the other teams in the league. Our focus for the next week in training will move heavily towards our defensive systems as well as looking at some technical work around the tackle as we will need to be at our best if we are to get a result away to Nottingham Trent next week.”

The 1st XV will be looking to build upon their performance in order to topple Nottingham Trent next week, whilst the 2nd XV will be looking to bounce back from a tough 46-19 defeat to University of Nottingham 3rd XV with a home tie against Loughborough 4th XV. The 3rd XV are also in action, facing Aston’s 2nd XV at home.

Stephen Lewis