Rowing

A successful summer tour to New Zealand saw Cambridge University Boat Club defeat Waikato University in the annual ‘Great Race’.  Despite a collision with the Waikato boat Cambridge’s superior strength and technique ensured that the result was rarely in doubt.  The Blue’s victory sees them take a 3-2 lead in the ‘Great Race’ series and will be seen as a good omen for the new year.  The squad has already started gruelling schedule of ergs and weights specifically aimed at defeating the old enemy next year.  All will be hoping to avoid the successive culls that will, over the next couple of weeks, narrow the group down to around 22 individuals, who will then train for the next term desperate to make the final squad for either the Blues or the Goldie crew next spring.

Rugby

The Blue’s pre-season rugby tour to America could hardly have gone better with Cambridge notching up three wins out of three against various rugby outfits.  After dispatching New York Athletics Club with a 43-24 victory under lights in Manhattan, the Blues moved onto defeating Penn State 44-15.  Such a result particularly pleased the Cambridge set up who were aware that shifting 24 points in their first game was slightly disappointing.  The defence was even more impressive in the final game against Old Blue, where Cambridge managed to concede only 4 penalties.  The game remained extremely tight until late in the second half when Cambridge were able to pull away and finish with a 36-12 win.  Such a successful tour hopefully bodes well for a strong season from Cambridge.

 

BMC

Botswana Meat Commission F.C. suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of the in-form ECCO City Greens. Nevertheless, the team from Lobatse find themselves positioned safely in 7th in the Botswanan Premier League, following their strong start to the season. These are comparatively lofty heights for the BMC, who only avoided relegation by a single point last season. However, this comfortable position is under threat this Sunday, as they visit Township Rollers, who were last season’s champions, and this season’s runaway league leaders. In spite of result last weekend, this has been an exciting week in the history of the club, as the 20,000 capacity Lobatse Stadium was finally completed and formally handed over last Friday.