It’s that wonderful time of year again; all those essays are temporarily put aside, George Green is swapped for green and gold, and Hallward is ditched for a view of sporting excellence, as we prepare once again to battle it out against Nottingham Trent University (NTU) at Varsity.
2017’s Varsity series will kick off with Rugby League on Saturday 25th at the neutral ground, Lady Bay Stadium. The second week of Varsity will commence after the Easter break.
Despite being first up, first team captain Adam Simm says the team are very excited.
“It’s nice to know the game is a meaningful one and that the point will definitely matter this year. The early fixture means this year the season will be wrapped up, as opposed to having to wait until May – I think that would just add more pressure’.
The team have had a fantastic season, progressing to the playoffs in the league and securing their title defence in an amazing 14-12 defeat of Bath in the British Universities and Colleges (BUCS) Cup.
Unfortunately, with success comes responsibility, as the team had their cup game on Wednesday 22nd and now have Varsity on the 25th, and their first leg of their playoffs on the 29th. This leaves little time to prepare and to focus on Trent, who very narrowly missed out on second place in their league, and are likely to be very ready for the last game of their season, at Varsity.
“I’m pretty optimistic; it would be nice to win three years in a row”
Despite this, the team does sound composed and ready for the challenges ahead: “We haven’t really thought about Trent yet. We take each game as it comes and ultimately we focus on ourselves and on what we need to do, not the team we’re playing,” the captain remarked.
President and 2nd team captain, Jack Beaman added:
“I’m pretty optimistic; it would be nice to win three years in a row, and we’ve definitely improved since last year – but they’ve also pulled out some big wins this year, so it’ll definitely be close. “
After a slight racking of thoughts, the pair predicted themselves to get the points rolling for Nottingham with a 32-24 win (you heard it from them first!)
We also think this game will be a close one; the sheer excitement of League stems from its intensity, and the fact that any team can muscle up to the favourites and create a dramatic sporting occasion. This will be no exception, and with close matches and red cards both factors of the previous few years, we are expecting a fiery encounter that will be thrilling to watch from start to finish.
Our prediction is a nail biting 28-22 to the Green and Gold of UoN!
Rhys Thomas
Images courtesy of The University of Nottingham Rugby League and twitter.com.
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