Jesus 12 - 8 St John's 2nds

Jesus faced John’s 2nds earlier this week in the most difficult section of the Cuppers draw. Whilst most of the John’s players have been playing for their first team throughout the season they couldn’t manage the tough task of stopping their rivals and Jesus were the eventual victors.

With both teams effectively having a bye in the preliminary round they were equally keen to show that they were not going to be knocked out without a fight. Add to this the bitter rivalry between the two top division Colleges and you get a tight Cuppers match, it’s just a shame quality never matched the anticipation. The first forty minutes saw tries from both sides with the score always staying close whilst the second half remained a deadlock.

The play was not as fluid as one might have hoped as the freezing conditions brought wind and snow which contained both teams and forced a host of errors, especially as the game progressed. With the weather looming, both sides were eager to score early; Jesus were the first to capitalise on their eager mentality when recently capped Blues winger Rob Stevens converted his own try. This put his team seven points ahead and it wasn’t long before second-row Andrew Gilbert added a second. Not wanting to go into the second half two tries behind John’s upped the intensity and worked hard to keep the ball in hand. Strangely their first try didn’t come from this intelligent play but instead it was gifted to them when full-back Oli Hunt snatched an interception. Before the cold and barren second half sucked the life out of the two sides Sonenfeld added another three points with his boot bringing the two teams within four points of one another.

Unfortunately the game progressed no further and the ref, who was nearly an hour late for the kickoff, should probably have stopped the game at half time, got home early, and saved everyone a cold afternoon. The second half saw a mixture of errors and frustration but a distinct lack of tries as neither side took hold of the game. Whilst  half the spectators grinned and the others grimaced as the final whistle went everyone was definitely uncomfortably cold and bit unimpressed with the 12-8 score line.

Jesus will now go on to face either Queens or St Edmund’s in the quarter finals whilst John’s 2nds will now fancy themselves in the Plate competition. In fact, it will be worth following the Plate as the top rugby College in the University will no doubt be hoping that between their two teams they can take the league, the Cup and the Plate.