Eddie puts a big smile on the faces at Cardiff Met
CARDIFF Met head coach Daniel Milton was ‘over the moon’ that England head coach Eddie Jones recognised the university as a ‘popular breeding ground for Test match rugby players’ in his Press conference earlier this week.
Jones said: “Luke Northmore he’s another one out of Cardiff Metropolitan University, which seems to be a popular breeding ground for Test match rugby players.”
Milton expressed what a proud moment it was for the university.
He said: “It was unbelievable from Eddie Jones, really special comments and great for the club to get a mention like that.
“As pleasing as those comments are, they are reflective of a load of people from the university who give up their time to try to develop students both academically and on the rugby front.
“I’m over the moon with the comments. It should be seen as a testament to BUCS Super Rugby, it’s not just us that are producing great players for the professional game.”
BUCS Super Rugby returns after its six week winter break with the second half of the campaign kicking off on Wednesday with a full round of fixtures.
Durham lead the way on 44 points but face stiff title competition from second-placed Exeter on 43 points and third place Loughborough, who are on 40.
At the other end of the table, basement side Northumbria have just six points registered and are 11 behind ninth place Swansea.
Milton’s Cardiff Met are in action at home to Northumbria and he says his side are excited to be back in action.
He said: “We’re really excited, the excitement that BUCS Super Rugby brings with the crowds and everything that goes with it. I know all the students,
playing or supporting are looking forward to rugby returning.”
Despite being six places ahead of their opponents, Milton believes his side will be in for a tough game on Wednesday.
He said: “Their coach (Jon Benson) has developed a real brand of attacking rugby that they will bring. They are always very competitive, especially at the breakdown and are never to be underestimated.
“Many times we’ve gone up there and had some fantastic games, scored exciting tries and it’s normally a high scoring game.
“While we’ve been on the end of a couple of wins, we’ve also been on the end of a couple of beatings. It’s important to recognise the quality of the league and Northumbria are a big part of that.”
Just one place separates Bath and Cardiff Uni who go head-to-head on Wednesday, with Bath five points clear but having played a game more than their opponents.
Bath head coach Aaron James believes the mid-season break came at a good time for his side but knows with exam timetables that he may not have his best players always available in the second half of the season.
James said: “The good thing about the break is that you get players back from injury. However, we haven’t seen exam timetables yet so it’s hard for our guys to play a full game of contact rugby and then turn up for an exam on the Thursday with all the issues around concussions, so we look after the wellbeing of our guys. We may have guys fully fit, but they may be unavailable due to academic reasons.”