Finals day kicked off with a thriller for the fans in the stands. Two teams with international pedigree, Hartpury and Edinburgh threw everything at each other in the opening stages, but it was Edinburgh who took the early lead through none other than the league’s top points scorer and Scotland international Meryl Smith.
Of course, Hartpury responded to Edinburgh with two quick tries. The pick of them was the second finished off by winger Lowri Davies in emphatic fashion fending off the tackler to dot down in the corner.
Edinburgh scored their second try of the game just before the half to take the teams in level at 12 points all.
With everything to play for in the second half, a flurry of early tries for both sides, including a second for Meryl Smith, kept the game incredibly close with Edinburgh leading 22-19.
Then the moment that changed the game. Edinburgh star Meryl Smith received a yellow card for a collision with Hartpury and England international Emma Sing. Hartpury took advantage of their opponents being down a player to take the lead with just under 20 minutes remaining.
Hartpury continued their dominance with two more tries to give them a 14-point lead with 5 minutes remaining to put the game out of Edinburgh reach. They hung on to take the win 36-22 and become the BUCS Women’s National League National Champions for the first time in their history.
Following their celebrations, the Hartpury captain Sophie Bridger spoke to us about what this means to them. “We’ve been dreaming of that all season. To win it for the girls that didn’t get to play two years ago is special. I believe our girls deserved it and I’m so proud of them.”
England International and Hartpury Head Coach Natasha ‘Mo’ Hunt had this to say following the final. “I’m just so proud. It’s a different level coaching to playing, I’m more stressed today than I have been playing for England in the last few weeks.” It truly is a fairy-tale ending for Mo in her first season coaching the team.
The action didn’t stop there, as next up we had the BUCS Super Rugby National Championship Final between the league champions Durham and their closest rivals Exeter.
Exeter Head Coach Keith Fleming summed up the game pre-match in a perfect way. “It’s the two best teams in the league going at it hammer and tongs.”
Although the scoreline was low, the match did not disappoint. It was a described as a ‘war’ on commentary and that it was with both sides trading blows like two equally matched boxers going 12 rounds in the ring.
It took nearly 25 minutes for the first try to come after Exeter took a quick line out to catch the Durham defensive line knapping which saw Tom Hitchcock power his way over the try line.
Just before the half, Durham broke through after a strong run and incredible offload from winger Ollie Walker set up Nick Jonas to run over unattended. This gave Durham a slender 3-point lead after the first 40 minutes.
After more epic blows between the two sides and Durham looking like they might just hold on, the Palatinate wall crumbled as second-row Dafydd Jenkins and eventual player of the match went over for the green army to give them a one-point lead with 5 minutes to go, 14-13.
With the clock in the red and Durham wearing down Exeter, the green machine held on to win a penalty just outside their own try line to seal the 2021-22 BUCS Super Rugby National Championship title.
Both teams left everything on the field to produce an all-time classic that will go down in BUCS Super Rugby history.
Huge congratulations to both Hartpury and Exeter on becoming the National Champions, and a massive well done to Edinburgh and Durham for playing their part in two incredible finals at Sixways.
A special season has ended in a very special way.
