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Newcastle’s rugby union blitz past Bristol at Cochrane

4 March 2024

Newcastle University’s rugby union men’s 1st XV came out on top in emphatic fashion against Bristol University with a 46-5 win at Cochrane Park on Wednesday afternoon.

After Bristol’s first and only try, which went unconverted, their openside flanker was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on around the 10-minute mark. This lead to Newcastle’s left winger, Sam Wadsworth, exploiting the space to score 5 points in the corner of the pitch. Fly-half Matt Russell then made a difficult conversion look easy, and Newcastle gained a lead of 7-5 as a result.

In the first half alone, Newcastle’s tryscorers also included inside centre, Joe Mousley, his try coming after a quick backs move from a lineout, second row Luke Coulston after breaking from a scrum, right wing Alfie Johnson and number eight Will Pugh. Pugh’s try came from one of the best Newcastle plays of the match, after he expertly charged down the attempted box kick of Bristol’s scrum half and chased down the following rebound, which bounced kindly for him to go over and score the try.

The second half saw many replacements from the home side, including Newcastle’s number 24 coming in on the right wing, who went on to score a late try in the corner of the pitch following 20 minutes of intermittent kick-tennis. It proved to be the final icing on Newcastle’s cake, as 3 more tries were scored before the full time whistle was blown – ending the match at 46-5. Even with attempts from Bristol to get a few points back- good efforts but they yielded no consolation.

The scoreline reflects a smart tactical performance from Newcastle that outwitted Bristol’s defence. Newcastle’s forwards regularly won important physical duels such as scrums, rucks and mauls, made multiple hefty tackles and won a lot of lineout balls as well. This reflects the performance of a cohesive team that knows its strengths and plays to them as such.