Notts on course to survive after Met victory

NEW boys Nottingham took a giant leap towards ensuring their BUCS Super Rugby survival as they moved 13 points clear of the bottom after thumping Cardiff Met 46-14 at Highfields.

The Green and Gold raced to a 31-0 half-time lead with Max Brown and top tryscorer Connor Moyse both scoring doubles along with Tom Allan’s try.

Cardiff Met hit back with two second-half scores but a Brown penalty and a try from James Cherry secured Notts’ bonus-point victory.

The result, alongside Swansea’s 21-29 defeat to Hartpury at St Helen’s, leaves Nottingham two points adrift of the Welsh side for the final playoff spot in eighth place.

Head of performance Paul Westgate said: “We put a bit of a plan together, worked hard and played probably our most complete game of the season.”

Loughborough moved top after hooker-pairing Seb Smith and Joe Plunkett scored four tries between them in a 39-26 win over basement boys Leeds Beckett.

The defeat leaves Beckett likely to feature in the relegation playoff game to ensure their Super Rugby survival.

Durham and Bath shared the spoils in their top of the table clash after fly-half Zach Rodber narrowly missed a potential game-winning conversion following Bath’s last-minute try to draw 17-17.

Despite the dropped points, Bath still hold a ten-point advantage over fourth-placed Durham, but have now slipped into third and sit two points shy of top spot.

Meanwhile, Cardiff completed the league double over pre-round league leaders Exeter after the home side scored ten points in the final three minutes to give them an impressive 32-31 win.