By Max Dombrowe, Third Year, Theoretical Physics
Derby Day presented one last opportunity for the leavers of the University of Bristol men's rugby team to take centre stage at Coombe Dingle as they pulled on the shirt for the final time.
For the players, this moment was the climax of many years of representing the club, whether it be through gritty January Monday night training sessions, driving the progress of the club through its partnership with Bristol Bears or attending every single Wednesday night Fishies- or all three. This truly did make running out onto the pitch through the tunnel a special moment. This showed as Bristol worked their way up the pitch through some accurate phase-play, eventually leading to a John Fenley try. Credit for this must go to James Williamson who, having certainly had a good night on St. Patrick's Day, made a 30m break the phase beforehand.
The game took an unfortunate turn after this as Matt Hodges suffered a brutal knee dislocation. However, with a large amount of painkillers and help from the physio and paramedics, he was able to move off the pitch to let the afternoon continue. Thankfully, and somewhat inevitably, Matt recovered well and was able to come to social on fine form. Dan Tobin entered the field and play continued in the sweltering Coombe Dingle heat, and, once the team had recovered from the shock of the injury Bristol's form continued.
Birmingham were physical in the contact area, but Bristol's skill with ball in hand proved to be too much for the visitors. A notorious Max Dombrowe quick tap penalty opened up space for lovely offloading rugby from Tom Allan and first team captain, Josh Chalk, which led to the second try. The remainder of the second half was a tight affair, with an over eager desire to play costing Bristol at times. Despite this, Jacob Moore ensured the men in white stayed in control with some delicious kicking from hand. His inability to score points from the tee, however, meant the half finished 15-10.
Now it was time to have some fun. The 20 boys on the bench had been warming up, and came onto the pitch, for some of them, for the first time in two years. Henry Morgan put in a strong shift at prop and Nathaniel Archer had an exceptional tackling performance. While the lack of cohesion allowed Birmingham to take the lead, Bristol's spirits were high and superseded anything seen on the scoreboard. 'Joue' is the only adequate description. There was plenty to be celebrated in the second half- Callum Richardson put in an enormous 60 minutes, running only on beers from Tuesday night and some exceptional goal line defense was on show from the new pack, led by henry Starmer-Smith.
The highlight was Jake Pattison, now a Hyrox athlete, regathering his own grubber from a restart and leading so close to Bristol's fourth. This brought a great cheer from the 300 strong crowd. Perhaps an even bigger cheer went up when Jed Hurrel, UBRFC gladiator champion and social sec (and prop), entered the pitch in his fifth position of the day and took a high ball catch in the fading sunlight, with 15 proudly on his back. This shows any aspiring UBRFC players what the FRU is capable of! Harry Oldham had a fantastic time on the pitch, although it was unclear whether it was him, or his twin Ben, who was playing for Bristol. This family spirit encouraged Bristol, as many boys left the field for the last time, to go over for their fourth try, with a classic Josh Chalk fend and finish under the sticks. Of course, with Tom Else attempting to drop-kick the conversion, the extras were not added.
The full-time whistle came after an unsuccessful 13-man lineout. Final score Bristol 20, Birmingham 36. The camaraderie on show proves what the rugby club has meant to these players for the past 3-5 years, bringing friendship, team building and, most importantly, enjoyment. Rugby was the real winner, and has been since we all joined in first year.
Thank you to all those who came down to show support.
Did you watch the Leavers Game at Derby Day?
Featured Image: Instragram @finetimephotography
