Doughty hat-trick vital to first win
Team Bath’s BUCS Super Rugby squad received a significant boost ahead of last night’s big Anniversary Game against Leeds Beckett at the Recreation Ground.
Fulkers, the property and construction consultants, have come on board to back the team who represent the University of Bath Rugby Club in the top-tier student league. A national company whose nationwide series of offices include Bristol, London, Leeds, Manchester, North Kent and Reading, Fulkers are used to supporting the University on major construction projects and will now back student activity for the first time.
“This is a new departure for us but it feels right to support sport in this way. It’s an activity which is a source of pride for the students at the University and the team is playing in the very top echelon of student rugby with multiple crossovers into and from Bath Rugby with whom Team Bath has a partnership,” said Sam Bailey, a partner at Fulkers.
“For us it’s amazing to see how incredibly talented and dedicated the players and coaches are. It is also astounding how the players juggle full-on study with the need to train for rugby in such a professional manner. There are a lot of transferable lessons for our business about goal-setting, focus and time-management.”
BUCS Super Rugby is a national league that features only the top 10 rugby-playing Universities. Team Bath have reached the semi-finals in the first two years of the league but know that they need to continue to grow and develop to keep at pace with the other institutions.
“Support from companies like Fulkers is invaluable,” said Aaron James, the university’s head rugby coach. “It helps us both challenge currently and push the boundaries.
“We need to keep growing if we are to succeed. Other Universities are not standing still and this kind of financial support can make all the difference in making our programme attractive to good, new recruits from around the country.”
The Blue and Gold went into the showpiece match against Leeds on the back of their first victory of the season after they edged out Nottingham Trent in a high-scoring conest at the University of Bath Sports Training Village last week.
Captain Tom Doughty scored a hat-trick of tries in the first half which, along with an Ed Rimmer touchdown, gave the hosts a narrow 20-17 advantage at the break.
Angus Hinton and Will Butt also crossed the line in the second half, both tries converted by Hugo Stiles, and a penalty try put Team 41-29 ahead with just ten minutes remaining.
But Nottingham Trent kept battling away and closed the gap through a converted try – their fifth of an entertaining game – before forcing a lineout on the Bath line in the dying seconds. The home side were able to clear the danger, though, as they held on for a welcome 41-36 victory.
“We’re buzzing to get the first win under our belt,” said Doughty. “It was a bit too close at the end and that’s something we’ll go back and look at but the main focus this week was to improve our attacking structure and we did just that, so I’m proud of the boys.”
James added: “After our opening two losses, we needed to get the monkey off our back and we did that tonight. There was some outstanding rugby at times but we just have to watch our discipline as it made the game much closer than it should have been.”
There was a nail-biting finish for Bath Ladies when they travelled to Reading Abbey for round five of the Championship South as they won 20-7.
Bath started well, putting pressure on Reading’s breakdown and set piece, and were rewarded with a penalty which was converted by fly-half Sarah Holloway.
Reading scored the first try after earning a free-kick from a scrum in the middle, impressive play from their fly-half and centres shipped the ball to the wing to score under the posts.
Bath hit back with a quick score after Reading knocked on from the restart. The powerful scrum gained ground before prop Jazz Swift carried into the 22 and several pick and goes saw the ball back to Swift to power over, converted by Holloway.
Conditions worsened after halftime and unforced errors saw play become staggered. But Bath showed patience to go through several phases, before a lovely floating missed pass from scrum-half Jane Bell found flanker Heidi Silcox to score and make it 15-7.
Momentum quickly turned again as Reading made their way upfield and while Bath were penalised at a couple of breakdowns, their second row found space to score, the conversion slipping in off the inside of the post.
Reading kept Bath pinned back in the final quarter and when the visitors were caught offside in the Reading 22, they took no time in kicking the penalty to make it 17-15 in their favour.
Bath rallied for a string of final attacks, with replacement second row Kirstin James storming up the pitch with a fantastic carry before tipping a smart offload to back-row Catherine Davidson.
Reading defended well and earned a scrum from a knock on. But their clearing kick went straight out, giving Bath a line-out. After winning the ball, a jinking run down the right by wing Hannah Meek saw defenders sucked in.
The ball was quickly recycled before a final floating pass from Holloway found powerful runner Zoe Gabbidon to touch down to grasp victory late on.