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BUCS Golden Double-EUWRFC sweep 7s and 15s titles

Women's 7s BUCS Gold 2019

BUCS Golden Double-EUWRFC Sweep 7s and 15s Titles

To cap off a dream season EUWRFC have done the BUCS Golden double and take the 7s title to back up their 15s triumph at Twickenham.

EUWRFC headed to the BUCS Championship 7s tournament held at West Park Leeds Rugby Union Club on Wednesday 1st May 2019. Having won the BUCS 15s title at Twickenham just 3 weeks previously Exeter were up against it with regards to preparation for the 7s season.

In the pool stages of the competition Exeter faced University of Edinburgh and Newcastle University. In their opening game against Edinburgh, Exeter started strongly and ran out as winners 24-7. Heading into the 2nd game against Newcastle everything came together for Exeter who played some of their best 7s to dominate Newcastle in a clinical performance to put 64 points on the board (winning 64-0) and take them into the quarter finals.

In what was the first quarter final of the day Exeter were up against familiar Premier South rivals Cardiff Metropolitan University and came out on top to meet a quality Loughborough University side in the semi-final. With Loughborough looking like the early competition favourites boasting 2 England 7s players with experience on the international circuit, Exeter refused to be intimidated and put in a solid performance to take their place in the BUCS 7s final.

In a re-run of the 15s final held at Twickenham, Exeter were up against Durham University once again in a fight for BUCS Gold. Knowing the quality of the Durham side Exeter took nothing for granted and put in a phenomenal 7s performance to run out 22-5 winners and to cap off an unbelievably dominant BUCS Rugby season. EUWRFC’s very own Zoe Heeley was named player of the tournament and scored a hatrick in the final to help Exeter towards their 2nd BUCS Gold of the season.

Head of Women’s Rugby Coach Jo Yapp commented “Having not won the 7s since 2013-2014 it was great to have Exeter back in the final which is testament to the effort the girls have put in over the past few years. Being able to do the 15s and 7s double in the same year shows the mental strength and resilience of the squad with limited 7s preparation and a high academic workload. Preparing alongside the men’s programme over the University holidays was definitely really key to our success and has allowed us to cap off a fantastic season which the girls should be incredibly proud of”.

Captain Hannah Gascoigne added “Winning BUCS 7s really was the icing on the cake. We went into the tournament with no expectations and just wanting to enjoy playing together for the last time in the season (and for a lot of us ever) in the Exeter shirt. We were relentless and driven to put in our best performance. Winning yesterday was a deserved reward for the girls' work rate throughout this season. We couldn't have done it without everyone involved in the club and especially our coach Jo Yapp. We hope to have made her proud”.

Rugby is one of the performance sports at the University of Exeter and as such all performance athletes receive access to exceptional coaching, facilities and a comprehensive support services package including strength and conditioning, physiotherapy, performance analysis and performance athlete lifestyle support. For the current BUCS season the University of Exeter finish the BUCS season ranked as the number 1 institution for Rugby in the 2018-2019 BUCS Sport rankings.

Date: 2 May 2019