CARDIFF Met are through to the BUCS Championship showpiece final at Twickenham having dispatched defending champions, Hartpury, 27-13 at Cyncoed.
It was once again a commanding performance from the Met pack, who dominated the West Country side up front from start to finish.
The front three of Brynley Toms, Tom Emery and Jordan Saunders consistently put their opposition under pressure at scrum time, while locks Josh Walker and Miles Normandale put in some monstrous hits.
Captain Kyle Tayler was a nuisance at every break down, while Sam Cross once again provided some great link play and on more than one occasion, seemed to defy the laws of physics as he gathered line-out ball from extreme positions.
It was once again a commanding performance from the Met pack, who dominated the West Country side up front from start to finish.
The front three of Brynley Toms, Tom Emery and Jordan Saunders consistently put their opposition under pressure at scrum time, while locks Josh Walker and Miles Normandale put in some monstrous hits.
Captain Kyle Tayler was a nuisance at every break down, while Sam Cross once again provided some great link play and on more than one occasion, seemed to defy the laws of physics as he gathered line-out ball from extreme positions.
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Met’s Director of Rugby, Chris Davey, paid homage to his side after the match.
“Undoubtedly, I thought we were the better, stronger team today. Our pack has been a force to be reckoned with all season and today they came up trumps. Hartpury had the England Students front row, but I think our boys showed perhaps the England student selectors have made a couple of errors, especially with how we dominated the scrum platform.
After getting those two early tries on the board, we really dominated proceedings and it's no more than this group deserve. They’ve been a great group all year and it's great to see them have the opportunity to go to Twickenham.”
It was a nervy start from both sides with a lot of silly errors, but it was the visitors that had the first chance of points as referee, Jason Langdon, penalised Tayler at the break down, and fly half Luke Cozens lived up to his flashy green boots to clinically fire home from 45 metres.
Their lead would only last a matter of minutes, however, as Met regathered the restart before an innocuous kick over the top created chaos in the Hartpury defence. As the bounce avoided the back three, it fell into the grateful arms of Met’s Guy Wood, who showed great pace and power to cross, Matt O’Brien adding the simple extras.
“Undoubtedly, I thought we were the better, stronger team today. Our pack has been a force to be reckoned with all season and today they came up trumps. Hartpury had the England Students front row, but I think our boys showed perhaps the England student selectors have made a couple of errors, especially with how we dominated the scrum platform.
After getting those two early tries on the board, we really dominated proceedings and it's no more than this group deserve. They’ve been a great group all year and it's great to see them have the opportunity to go to Twickenham.”
It was a nervy start from both sides with a lot of silly errors, but it was the visitors that had the first chance of points as referee, Jason Langdon, penalised Tayler at the break down, and fly half Luke Cozens lived up to his flashy green boots to clinically fire home from 45 metres.
Their lead would only last a matter of minutes, however, as Met regathered the restart before an innocuous kick over the top created chaos in the Hartpury defence. As the bounce avoided the back three, it fell into the grateful arms of Met’s Guy Wood, who showed great pace and power to cross, Matt O’Brien adding the simple extras.
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| TRY TIME: Guy Wood powers over the whitewash for Met |
The hosts continued to cause problems with wing Pierre Tucker nearly latching onto an O’Brien chip. The forwards were pushing the Hartpury pack all over the pitch with a Met driving maul making good ground. With Hartpury defending the whitewash for their lives, a turnover gave them the chance to clear their lines, but scrum half Grant Hancock’s kick could not evade the towering presence of lock Normandale, and the man mountain reclaimed his charge-down for the simplest of scores.
The English side seemed dazed by the frantic, yet calculated start from their hosts, but regrouped with a good spell of pressure themselves. After several phases of play in the opposition 22, the ball was spread wide and Ricky Cano fed wing Ian Clark, who rounded the cover defence to scamper over out wide. Cozens stepped up and slotted the difficult extras.
In a frenzied period of play, Met almost immediately restored their advantage, as Ben Aten-Burrett and James Beal made good yardage with strong runs, and Hartpury were penalised for offside. O’Brien punted to the corner and from close range, there was certain inevitability to what followed. The lineout was gathered by the Met forwards as they rumbled over the whitewash, with Normandale bagging his second of the afternoon.
The English side seemed dazed by the frantic, yet calculated start from their hosts, but regrouped with a good spell of pressure themselves. After several phases of play in the opposition 22, the ball was spread wide and Ricky Cano fed wing Ian Clark, who rounded the cover defence to scamper over out wide. Cozens stepped up and slotted the difficult extras.
In a frenzied period of play, Met almost immediately restored their advantage, as Ben Aten-Burrett and James Beal made good yardage with strong runs, and Hartpury were penalised for offside. O’Brien punted to the corner and from close range, there was certain inevitability to what followed. The lineout was gathered by the Met forwards as they rumbled over the whitewash, with Normandale bagging his second of the afternoon.
The Welsh capital side were on the front foot for the remainder of the half, pinning Hartpury into their own 22, but the hosts were unable to make their pressure pay and it was Hartpury that were to have an unlikely final say of the half.
Centre Alex Dancer, who was a threat as first receiver all afternoon, produced a wonderful line break and Met were forced to concede the penalty. On the stroke of half time, Craig Jackson stroked over the three pointer to trail 17-13 at the break.
Cardiff continued the second half in the same dominant vein as Hartpury were forced to repel wave after wave of assault, with the back line perhaps a little guilty of spurning a number of gilt edged chances.
Referee Langdon became frustrated with the repeated infringement from the visitors as centre George Boulton was yellowed for coming in at the side. And Met made the man advantage pay, as a great move off the back of the scrum saw Rhodri Davies scampering over from 15 metres out.
Centre Alex Dancer, who was a threat as first receiver all afternoon, produced a wonderful line break and Met were forced to concede the penalty. On the stroke of half time, Craig Jackson stroked over the three pointer to trail 17-13 at the break.
Cardiff continued the second half in the same dominant vein as Hartpury were forced to repel wave after wave of assault, with the back line perhaps a little guilty of spurning a number of gilt edged chances.
Referee Langdon became frustrated with the repeated infringement from the visitors as centre George Boulton was yellowed for coming in at the side. And Met made the man advantage pay, as a great move off the back of the scrum saw Rhodri Davies scampering over from 15 metres out.
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| Scrum-half Rhodri Davies races clear |
As Boulton returned to the fray for Hartpury, the visitors lost Liam Gallagher to the sin bin for not retreating 10 at a penalty, and they were once again at a disadvantage as they faced an ever increasing uphill battle. When O’Brien fired over a drop goal from half way, you sensed there was no way back for the BUCS Championship holders.
Cross then looked to have sealed the victory for Met in emphatic style with a breakaway try from their own half, but just when the home faithful began to celebrate, confusion reigned as the assistant referee spotted an infringement and play was brought back for a Hartpury penalty.
The final 15 minutes was all Hartpury, yet they failed to find the platform to unleash their backs and Met remained composed under increasing pressure.
Cross then looked to have sealed the victory for Met in emphatic style with a breakaway try from their own half, but just when the home faithful began to celebrate, confusion reigned as the assistant referee spotted an infringement and play was brought back for a Hartpury penalty.
The final 15 minutes was all Hartpury, yet they failed to find the platform to unleash their backs and Met remained composed under increasing pressure.
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| Cardiff Met celebrate after the final whistle |
Cardiff Met will face old foes, Durham, in the final who beat them in the showpiece at Twickenham in 2011. The Welsh students will undoubtedly go into the match with the desire to go one better than their predecessors.
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