Loughborough Students RUFC

Not to be confused with Loughborough RFC.
Loughborough Students
Full name Loughborough Students Rugby Union Football Club
Union Rugby Football Union
Founded 1919 (1919)
Location Loughborough, England
Ground(s) Loughborough University Stadium (Capacity: 3,000[1])
Director of Rugby Dave Morris
Coach(es) Haydn Coley, George Chuter, Ciaran Beattie, Jim Henry
Captain(s) James Freeman
League(s) National League 1
BUCS Premier North A
2015–16 13th
Team kit
Official website
www.loughboroughsport.com/au-rugby-mens

Loughborough Students Rugby Union Football Club is the rugby club that represents Loughborough University in rugby union competition. Of the British universities, Loughborough has unparalleled success, having won the BUCS championship (in its former guises as the BUSA and UAU championship) on twenty-seven occasions. It fields sides in the BUCS league, (inter-university) and in the third tier of the English rugby union system, National League 1. The club has fielded over seventy internationals (male and female), many of whom won caps while playing for the club.

History

Loughborough Colleges

The history of the club predates the formation of Loughborough University. The students of Loughborough College formed what is considered the original side in September 1919. Loughborough began competing in the Universities Athletic Union (UAU) in the 1930–31, and the Loughborough Colleges XV beat Nottingham University 8 – 0 in their first match. It was not until 1939 that the Loughborough Colleges reached the UAU final for the first time. The lost in a closely fought match to Swansea, whose win was the sixth in seven seasons.

It was in the post-Second World War period that Loughborough's reputation began to be made. Two future captains of England, Eric Evans and Jeff Butterfield played for the club in this period, as did Ray Williams, who eventually became Secretary of the Welsh Rugby Union. It was no surprise when, in 1953, Loughborough Colleges finally won the UAU for the first time. The club became one of the Midlands leading clubs and in 1959 they won the Middlesex Sevens.[2]

In the sixties an already impressive fixture list was enhanced by John Robins, the coach from 1962. It included Leicester, Gloucester, Rosslyn Park, Moseley and London Irish. John Robins went on to become the first British Lions coach. During his tenure at Loughborough, the UAU was won from 1962 to 1968 with only 1965 eluding the club. John Robins left Loughborough in 1967, and was replaced by the Scotland and Lions international Jim Greenwood. In 1970 Greenwood coached the Colleges to victory in the Middlesex Sevens, and in the first Twickenham UAU final, the Colleges beat Nottingham University 22 – 3. The 1970–71 side included six future internationals, Lewis Dick, David Cooke, Clive Rees, Fran Cotton, Steve Smith, and Dick Cowman. While at Loughborough, Jim Greenwood's pivotal coaching books, "Total Rugby" and "Think Rugby", were penned.[2]

Loughborough University is formed

In 1976, the Student's Unions of the University of Technology and the Loughborough Colleges merged and the Loughborough Students Rugby Club was formed. The team won the UAU in 1977, 1978 and 1979, with the 1978–79 side captained by the young centre Clive Woodward.

Rex Hazeldine, later England's first fitness coach, replaced Greenwood and is credited with being an integral part of the revolution of attitudes to the game at international level. In 1984 the UAU was won once again, as was the Leicestershire Cup. A touring Australian Universities side was also defeated. In the 1985–86 season a team led by Andy Robinson won through to the third round of the John Player Cup, going out to London Wasps. The same team won the UAU Championships.[2]

Joining the RFU League

At the inception of the RFU League, the team was offered a place in National 2. They turned this down and in 1996, when the Students did apply to join they had to join at the bottom of the league system. It was soon apparent that the standard of rugby at the university had been left behind by the professional teams in the league and in 1998 a full time Director of Rugby, Ian 'Dosser' Smith, was appointed. Alan Buzza took over from Smith in 2001 and is credited with modernizing the club. League promotions in 2001–02 and 2002–03 engendered confidence and the club was further enhanced by the presence of a number of excellent players including Tom Evans Jones, Edward Binham, Justin Abrahams, Andy Vilk, Peter Janes, James Jones and Sam Ulph. As far a British Universities championship win was concerned, however, the drought continued until, under the coach Paul Westgate, back to back wins were achieved in 2005 and 2006. Dave Morris took over as head coach from Westgate and immediately gained League promotion in 2007 to Midlands 1. The next season promotion was achieved to National League 2 North making the team the first student side to take part in the National Leagues. They finished in sixth place and in the same season achieved a win over England under-20s.[2]

Current standings

2016–17 National League 1 Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Try bonus Losing bonus Points
1 Hartpury College 15 15 0 0 696 198 498 15 0 75
2 Birmingham Moseley 15 12 0 3 426 316 110 6 1 55
3 Plymouth Albion 15 11 0 4 450 292 158 8 3 55
4 Ampthill 15 11 0 4 389 304 85 6 1 51
5 Blackheath 15 10 0 5 381 281 100 8 1 49
6 Coventry 15 8 1 6 458 374 84 6 2 42
7 Rosslyn Park 15 7 1 7 420 300 120 5 5 40
8 Loughborough Students 15 7 1 7 481 490 −9 8 1 39
9 Old Albanian 15 7 0 8 375 388 −13 8 3 39
10 Cambridge 15 6 0 9 381 489 −108 8 2 34
11 Esher 15 5 0 10 382 412 −30 6 5 31
12 Fylde 15 5 0 10 343 503 −160 7 3 30
13 Darlington Mowden Park 15 5 1 9 277 420 −143 3 2 27
14 Hull Ionians 15 4 0 11 292 473 −181 2 5 23
15 Blaydon 15 2 1 12 310 571 −261 5 3 18
16 Macclesfield 15 2 1 12 305 555 −250 4 3 17
  • Points system: 4 points for a win; 2 points for a draw; 1 point if a team loses by seven points or less (losing bonus); 1 point if the team scores four or more tries in a match (try bonus)
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled

    Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are relegation places.
    Updated: 10 December 2016
    Source: "National League 1". NCA Rugby. 

    Club honours

    Honours

    Men

    British and Irish Lions

    England

    Ireland

    Scotland

    Wales

    Other

    Women

    England

    • Nicky Ponsford
    • Karen Almond
    • Val Moore
    • Emma Mitchel
    • Charlotte Barras
    • Lois Moulding
    • Kim Shaylor
    • Sally Cockerill
    • Sarah Hunter (Captain)

    Ireland

    Jo O'Sullivan

    Wales

    References

    1. ↑ "Loughborough Students". This Is Rugby. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
    2. 1 2 3 4 History at LSRFC Official site
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