The University Rugby League Inter-Regional Games took place on Saturday 3rd December at Sheffield Hallam University Sports Park, serving up three exciting games showcasing the best 120 players in the student game. The day serves as the first stage selection for England Universities, with the Midlands, South East and South West players putting themselves in the shop window for the South team whilst their North counterparts will be drawn from the Yorkshire, North West and North East sides ahead of the 7th Annual University Rugby League Origin game which will take place in February. From that game, Kevin Deighton will select his final 26-man squad for the 2023 England campaign.
11am - Yorkshire 50 v Midlands 0
Game one saw Yorkshire keep a clean sheet against a Midlands team who performed far better than the score lines suggest and although the Midlands failed to convert any of their opportunities into points, they demonstrated some solid defence throughout the game with centre Jack Cherry a standout performer.
Yorkshire were made to work for their points, but first half tries for Tutin, Gilbey, Rafi and Sellers put them in a commanding position at the break, with Mallinson on target 3 out of his 4 conversion attempts. Oliver Agar took over kicking duties later in the second half, kicking three out of four of his shots on goal as well as scoring the second half’s opening try, before Rafi added his second, Riley scampered in off an offload and Medlicott barged through at the line. Gilbey had the final word at the death and the final whistle blew as Agar’s conversion attempt bounced off the upright.
Yorkshire
Iwan Orr, Conner Gilbey, Joe Wardill, Solomon Tutin, Sufy Rafi, Jack Mallinson, Joe Riley, Harry Medlicott, Alfie Crawford, Jordan Bull, Leon Stewart, Jack Toulson, Fraser Stroud.
Interchanges: Oliver Agar, Francis Coggle, Krystian Drobek, Marc Sellers, Harrison Petrie, Bradley Liddell, Callum Scott
Tries: Tutin (4), Gilbey (23, 79), Rafi (32, 55), Sellers (39), Agar (47), Riley (60), Medlicott (73)
Goals: Mallinson 4/5, Agar 3/4
Midlands Noah Lancelot, Josh Knox, Jack Cherry, James Merry, Luke Phoenix, Fin Tetlow, Bed Edwards, Aaron Powell, Alex Gribbon, Isa Mohammed, Oli Reddings, Ross McGlone, Lewis Haigh.
Interchanges: Ben Littlewood, Josh Ustaran-Anderegg, Ben Foskett, Harrison Ashby, Piers Goldby, Alfie Bryan.
Referee: Jayden Covell-Wood
Half Time: 22-0
1pm - South East 22 v South West 28
Game two saw a much tighter contest between the two southern regions, with the lead changing hands throughout the game. South East were first off the mark as Dominic Aston raced in, but Matt Noble was unable to convert. Kit Fairhurst levelled for the South West shortly afterwards, with Owen Priest’s conversion bouncing in off the upright to put them ahead, but South East were in front again shortly afterwards as Josh Stuttle found his way through, with Noble now on target with all his kicks. Fairhurst added his brace just after the half hour mark and Fin Balback crossed just before half time to put South West ahead at the break.
The opening of the second half was all South East as Charlie Harmer got them a dream start early on and Matteo Tafi pushed them ahead on the hour mark. Tom Wilkins levelled for South West with quarter of an hour to go and the game locked into an arm wrestle, broken only by Balback who broke free with five minutes to go to secure victory for the South West.
South East Marcus Clarke, David Bofenda, Ben McGuinness, Matteo Tafi, Charlie Harmer, Toby Harrison, Matthew Noble, Christian Gale, Daniel Poulter, Torr Strange, Dominic Aston, Harry Richards, Ed Brown.
Interchanges: Callum Kneafcy, Josh Stuttle, James Bunce, Sam Winney, Alex Ofulue, Chris Ball, James Lightfoot
Tries: Aston (4), Stuttle (16), Harmer (42), Tafi (60) Goals: Noble 3/4
South West George Orriss, Henry Symons, Bailey Russel, Reece Hudson, Kit Fairhurst, Ben Luxford, Fin Balback, Alex Boag, Owen Priest, Ashley Liddel, Louis Birch, Tom Wilkins, Toby Winterbottom.
Interchanges: Cameron MacDonald, Nathan Raffle, Connor Foster, Charlie Bridgewater, Ryan Alexander
Tries: Fairhurst (11, 32) Balback (37, 75), Wilkins (66)
Goals: Priest 4/5
Referee: Danny Crampton
Half Time: 10-16
3pm - North West 22 v North East 22
The final game of the day served up a cracker and as darkness fell in Sheffield, the North West and North East put on a display that showcased some of the best of the student game. Matty Rudd ran the perfect line to open the North West’s account, but Matty Lynn was unable to improve and went on to miss all his conversion attempts. Ten minutes later Evan Lawther scythed through to level things, with John Grey missing the kick. Luke Findlow broke the deadlock just before half time, finally collecting the long ball to the right to beat the corner flag put North West into the lead at half time.
Alex Donaghy’s early try brough North East back into the lead, coupled with Josh Stephenson’s conversion but it was short lived as Zach Gorst crossed for the North West soon after to give them two point advantage. Lynn put his foot down as he found space to score from 30 metres out and but despite a change in kicker, Rudd was also unable to convert. Jorge Cabral seemed to have swung the balance of the game further towards the North West when he crossed on the hour mark, Rudd this time slotting the easy conversion to extend the North West’s lead, but the final words went to the North East as first Harry Kirk crashed through to keep their hopes alive, with Stephenson adding the extras to narrow the gap to six points, and Lawther finding a gap and giving Stephenson another easy kick on goal to draw level. With neither side being in drop-goal range in the final few sets, the game ended all square, a fitting end to a fantastic contest.
North West
Matty Lynn, Luke Findlow, Jorge Cabral, Zach Gorst, Stanley Spence, Sean Findlow, Matty Rudd, Ben O’Donnell, Tommy Porter, Adam Lavin, Callum Drewery, Callum Disley, Jacob Turner.
Interchanges: Oliver Owen, Elliott Martin, Paul Chitakunye, Alex Pendlebury, Youcef Zitouni, Will Timmins, Ralph Wood.
Tries: Rudd (12), Findlow (37), Gorst (50), Lynn (56), Cabral (61),
Goals: Lynn 0/3, Rudd 1/2
North East
Alex Donaghy, Jay Haydock, Evan Lawther, Sean Croston, Tobias Bailey, John Grey, Tom Gibbs, Luke Roe, Gabriel Parker, Harry Kirk, Daniel White, Issac Coleman, Nathan Rushworth.
Interchanges: Josh Stephenson, Mac Walsh, Nathan Newbound, Liam Askew, Will Lintin.
Tries: Lawther (21, 75), Donaghy (46), Kirk (71)
Goals: Grey 0/1, Stephenson 3/3
Referee: Dan Geddes
Half Time: 8-4
