With Varsity only 2 weeks away the Blues went into the first round of the BUCS knockout competition looking to continue building the momentum that they’ll need if they’re to take down Cambridge at the Stoop. The focus for the match was to maintain shape and stick to the game plan, no matter what was put in front of them. Right from the first whistle, the home side put pressure on the visitors causing a turnover followed by a very early try. The pressure never let up and the Blues piled on 44 points to none in the first half alone.
With such a large half time differential it would have been easy to let off and start playing a less structured game, but the side showed great composure and kept the pressure on throughout. In attack Jon Dallimore showed some particularly nice touches, hitting some excellent lines, and captain for the match Josh Halstead led from the front as usual leaving Glamorgan defenders in his wake. The defensive line was solid and the match saw it’s fair share of booming tackles. Right to the final whistle, which came early due to the unfortunate injury of Robin Talbot, who’d had an excellent game at hooker, the Blues played the way they set out to, and in the end, against a Glamorgan side who never gave up, came away with an 82-8 win.
Coach Dan Garbutt had to say of the game that “credit has to be given to the Glamorgan boys – they never let their heads drop, and came at the Blues right to the end. Having said that, the boys really showed some composure to keep it together and keep the tries coming. A few loopy offloads here and there are expected really with a scoreline like that, but overall I was happy with the way the game went.”
