The Men's 1st team returned to competitive rugby on Saturday with an entertaining, albeit slightly scrappy, victory over a Cambridge RFC side (50-19). Playing in front of a small but very enthusiastic crowd, both squads threw themselves into the occasion with some ambitious rugby being played and offloads aplenty!
The CURUFC side included 13 players making their debuts, in contrast to Rowan Beckett (Peterhouse, Medicine), who was pleased to mark his 50th appearance for the 1st team. In total there were 7 returning Blues in the squad, including Captain Steven Leonard (Emmanuel, Medicine). The team is listed below.
The performance was certainly one upon which the squad will build, with errors interrupting the flow of the game throughout the first half. In addition to this, the adapted laws took some getting used to, particularly the absence of scrums to restart the game, but both sides gradually settled into the new format over the course of the first half.
The Cambridge RFC team was competitive throughout, although lacking in some strength in depth and overall fielding a fairly young team. Ultimately CURUFC were able to pull away in the second half, with Fergus Jemphrey (Homerton, MEd) scoring a brace of tries, alongside Suwi Chibale (Queens', MSt in Social Innovation) and Luke Parry (Downing, Natural Sciences).
The main positives to take from the performance included a backline with some real potential, coupled with a Man of the Match performance from newcomer David Beggs (Homerton, MPhil Education). However, the biggest takeaway was simply the enjoyment shared by both players and supporters alike at seeing rugby back at Grange Road following a fourteen month hiatus. We are all looking forward to the next men's 1st XV fixture at Grange Road, which will be Friday 4th June against Bishop's Stortford (8pm KO).
For those local to Cambridge, the CURUFC LXs side will be playing the University of Birmingham on Saturday at Grange Road (2pm KO), while the Women's 1st team begin their Varsity Campaign away to Shelford RFC on the same day (6pm KO).
1. Ben Jackson (Sidney Sussex, Medicine)
2. Luke Parry (Downing, Natural Sciences)
3. Matt Pettit (Clare, Medicine)
4. Rowan Beckett (Peterhouse, Medicine) *
5. Jack Blair (Hughes Hall, MPhil Technology Policy)
6. David Beggs (Homerton, MPhil Education)
7. Demi Obembe (Churchill, Engineering)
8. Stephen Leonard (Captain, Emmanuel, Medicine) *
9. Charles Favell (Homerton, Natural Sciences)
10. Jake Hennessey (Trinity, MML) *
11. Fergus Jemphrey (Homerton, MEd) *
12. Charlie Watson (Selwyn, Natural Sciences) *
13. Suwi Chibale (Queens', MSt in Social Innovation)
14. Sam Isaacs (Hughes Hall, MBA)
15. Etienne Dussartre (St Catharine's, MBA)
16. James Wright (Jesus, Engineering)
17. Iham Kasem (Emmanuel, Medicine)
18. George Cook (Robinson, MML) *
19. Connor Fairman (Homerton, Natural Sciences)
20. Angus Peters (Wolfson, Phd in Engineering)
21. Tom Walton (St John's, Engineering) *
22. James Elms (Magdalene, MPhil in Classics)
23. David Holdroyd (Jesus, Medicine)
24. Alex King (St Catharine's, Natural Sciences)
25. Will Saunter (St John's, MPhil in Genetics)
26. Max Loveridge (Jesus, Chemical Engineering)
* Denotes Blue