NZU U23s in crunch game on Friday to book World Universities Cup Major semi

New Zealand Universities U23s require a bonus point win in over Trinity College, Dublin, in their next match on Friday (UK time) in the World Universities Cup to progress to the major final.

On day one they had a win and a loss to universities from British Columbia and Siberia.

The NZU management summed with day one by saying “It's always hard to bring a group of boys to the other side of the world having never played together before but there was improvement shown, and if it wasn't for an intercept try chances are we would have banked a semi spot already. The upshot is that after Trinity beat the University of British Columbia after our game NZU must beat Trinity Friday morning and hope UBC doesn't score to many points against SFU (or even better lose) for NZU to advance to the major semi final. Memories of Circa Student World Cup 1988."

Match One: New Zealand Universities U23 (10) v British Columbia (20)

The New Zealand team played the University of British Columbia in their opening match, going down 10-20.

As always the game was started with a stirring Haka by the New Zealanders that saw both grounds stop and watch.

An early penalty to Sam Chamberlain saw NZU gain a lead but unfortunately some interesting scrum engagement interpretations saw the team penalised several times before UBC turned it into points to make it 3-3.

NZU finally hit their straps and after several digs at the line Hamish Walker crashed over for the 5 pointer which Chamberlain converted giving NZU a 10-3 HT lead. 

Confidence was high starting the second half. However this was soon lowered by an intercept try to UBC, a 4 on 2 pass saw the UBC winger take the glory and square the game up at 10-10.

Some inaccuracies and frustration with some rulings saw UBC turn the ball over and crash over for a try to take the lead 17-10 with three minutes to play. Unfortunately another penalty on the stroke of fulltime saw UBC emerge winners and deny NZU a valuable bonus point. 

NZU scoring: Tries H Walker, Con S Chamberlain, pen S Chamberlain.

Match two: NZU (17) v Siberian Federal University (3)

The second game saw NZU take on the Siberian Federal University. This team looked more like a basketball side than a rugby team with four players in their starting team well over 6 7'. They had a close loss to Trinity in their first game, 14-3, and were looking to improve. NZU only had 40 minutes to recover from their first run.

Coaches Tulloch and Timmins had made several changes with Angus Cameron coming in at lock and Liam Doherty on the side. Kieran Parker, Reece Brosnan and Tom Brown (fresh from his accountancy exam in London) were also all making their debuts.

The team started well with several breaks resulting in Angus Williams crashing over which was converted by Chamberlain. Chamberlain then extended the lead to 10-0 with a penalty. Points difference was now the most important thing. Shortly after, Chamberlain suffered a twisted ankle and was replaced by Healy. Once again discipline let the NZU side down and SFU converted a penalty right on halftime to bring the deficits back to 10-3 at the break. 

The next 20 minutes saw the kiwi boys control the game but the frustration of not being able to put the final nails in the coffin was evident. With four to go a long phase of play saw the fleet- footed tighthead prop James Ferrier cross the line and bring the ball round for Brown to convert. 17-3. NZU then camped on the SFU line but once again inaccuracies led to missed opportunities and that's how the game finished. 

NZU scoring: A Williams, J Ferrier, con S Chamberlain, T Brown, Pen S Chamberlain