Luke Mehson, Richard Capstick, Jack Owlett, Tom Lawday… these are just a few of the players that have represented Exeter University Rugby Club at Sandy Park in recent seasons before moving on to Premiership rugby. Varsity nights at Exeter Chiefs‘ home ground are a special occasion and one of the most important events on the Exeter Student Sports calendar, as the aforementioned quartet has discovered.
The Importance of Varsity Nights
Matches at Sandy Park provide an opportunity for university students to experience a professional matchday setup at one of the top venues in the country, with upwards of 4,000 students in attendance year after year. The encounter versus Loughborough on Wednesday (was on the offer of UK betting sites but also of sportsbooks of chosen casino sites rated by numerous features, such as best casino free spins) shaped up to be another highlight. And it was, with the home side prevailing with a score of 26-21. Many students have played in front of their largest crowds during their rugby careers thus far, with a chosen handful going on to experience that atmosphere every week in English rugby’s top flight.
Varsity is a significant event for everyone at Exeter. It’s an event these young men will remember for the rest of their lives, regardless of what level of rugby they play after graduation. The partnership with Exeter Chiefs, which allows events like this to take place, is growing and prospering.
Christ Tshiunza and Dafydd Jenkins have both made the transition from university rugby to the Chiefs this season. In the instance of the former, he has also won his first two senior caps for Wales, with many more to come. Sam Skinner, Sam Maunder, and the above-mentioned Capstick (50 appearances for the Chiefs) all came via the pathway of Exeter University and have since become valuable assets for the Chiefs, but it was in an Exeter University shirt that they first heard the iconic Sandy Park roar.
The Secret of Exeter University Leading to Its Players’ Breakthrough Into Elite
The BUCS Super Rugby league is becoming more and more well-known as a viable route into professional rugby. This season, while studying and playing university rugby, Jenkins, Oli Burrows, Archie Hosking, Dan John, Arthur Relton, Tom Cairns, Josh Barton, and Ollie Leatherbarrow, have all been part of Exeter Chiefs’ matchday teams. Jenkins has emerged as a key lever in the Chiefs’ motor in recent weeks as they contend with international absences. He created a reputation for himself in BUCS Super Rugby this season while still only a teen (he’s 19), before earning a chance to play for the Chiefs.
The sheer amount of players breaking into elite-level rugby in Exeter isn’t a coincidence. Haydn Thomas, the Exeter Chiefs senior coach, and Rich Hodges are among the experienced coaches who manage the university’s BUCS Super Rugby team. Other players from the university program have the chance to train with the Chiefs if they demonstrate their promise in a EURFC shirt.
This season has seen a slew of EURFC graduates play in the Premiership, Championship, and Europe, with Leatherbarrow and first-year student Rob Gordon also representing Scotland U20s in the Six Nations‘ first two rounds. While the two backrowers’ engagement with Scotland has prevented them from playing in a Varsity match, one can expect the opportunity to present itself during their tenure at university.
Exeter vs. Loughborough is one of the country’s and BUCS Super Rugby’s most prestigious university sporting rivalries. After the last duel within this illustrious rivalry, ‘The Green and Whites’ remained second in the table, while Loughborough is third. For the students on the field, it was a chance to have their names called out on the biggest stage they’ve ever seen.
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