University Origin Game 2023 - North 20 – 26 South
Saturday 4th February, 3pm KO
Olympic Legacy Park Stadium, Sheffield
The 7th Annual University Origin Game saw the South take the spoils for the first time ever in the series as the game left its traditional home at Loughborough University and moved north to the Olympic Legacy Park Stadium in Sheffield.
In front of an enthusiastic crowd, South set off like a house on fire and were first to score with Noah Lancelot showing his speed and agility to slice through on the left wing with Nathan Redmond adding the extras. Following sustained pressure, North fullback Matty Lynn fumbled the ball in goal, with Lancelot picking his pocket to ground the ball to extend the lead, although Redmond couldn’t find his mark with the conversion.
Both sides slugged it out in a competitive game, with forwards Chris Gale and Charlie McCurrie making hard metres for South whilst Isaac Coleman and Nathan Rushworth stood out for the North, playing behind clever halfback play from Redmond and Joe Riley respectively.
As half time approach, South centre Jack Cherry stretched out to add a further South try on the left edge with Redmond landing a towering conversion before both sides held on to the half time whistle and a 0-16 scoreline.
With memories of the 2022 game’s half time lead being thrown away by the Souths still haunting their coaching staff’s minds, the blues appeared to tiptoe into the second half whereas the North game out with all guns blazing. Nathan Rushworth barged his way through to the left of the posts taking three defenders with him to get the North off the mark, with Jack Mallinson slotting the easy conversion, but it wasn’t long before south replied with Redmond’s sidestep and dummy taking him in under the posts and presenting an easy conversion to restore the gap.
Coleman was rewarded for his efforts as he found space to jink through on the hour mark, but Mallinson was unable to convert, but Joe Riley showed pace and guile as he scampered through on the left edge which he had been trying to exploit for the previous 10 minutes in a superb solo effort, but again Mallinson was unable to add the extras.
With South appearing to fade, Rushworth bagged his brace after collecting Coleman’s short ball at the line in front of the sticks, with Mallinson kicking the easy conversion and bringing North to a two point deficit as the clocked ticked down. South were reduced to 12 men as Ben Edwards slowed down a North play-the-ball too much for the referee’s liking and was dispatched to the sin bin, but they couldn’t capitalise and as play moved to the other end of the ground, Charlie McCurrie dived through to inch the blues closer to victory. Owen Priest’s missed conversion gave North one last roll of the dice to secure a draw with a short kick off, but the set was not able to be completed before the clock ran down and a long awaited Origin win was recorded for the South.
Addressing both sets of players after the game, England Universities Head Coach Kevin Deighton told the players; “This is the best Origin game I have seen so far. The level of talent and commitment has been exceptional and whilst there is only one winner, all of the players today have shown how much the University game has to offer. There are some very difficult decisions for me to make now, and I thank you for giving me those difficulties! You should all be very proud of your achievements so far.”
Deighton will name a 26-man squad for the 2023 England Universities campaign following review of the Origin game, further review of performances in the Inter-Regional games and having gained further insight into players absent due to professional club commitments and to injury.
North Lineup: Matty Lynn, Sufyaan Rafi, Leon Stewart, Connor Gilby, Luke Findlow, Jack Mallinson, Joe Riley, Harry Medlicott, Alfie Crawford, Ben O’Donnell, Isaac Coleman, Dan White, Nathan Rushworth.
Interchanges: Sean Findlow, Jacob Turner, Paul Chitakunye, Jordan Bull, Adam Lavin, Callum Scott, Iwan Orr.
Tries: Rushworth (48, 72), Coleman (61), Riley (69),
Goals: Mallinson 2/4
South Lineup: Noah Lancelot, Luke Phoenix, Jack Cherry, Chris Ball, Michael Holden, Nathan Redmond, Ben Edwards, Chris Gale, Owen Priest, Aaron Powell, Charlie McCurrie, Tom Wilkins, Ed Brown.
Interchanges: Ben Littlewood, Alex Boag, Delaine Bedward-Gittens, Josh Knox, Tommy Svandize, Isa Mohammed
Tries: Lancelot (7, 18), Cherry (33), Redmond (56), McCurrie (78)
Goals: Redmond 3/4, Priest 0/1
