Leicester secures a Rugby Varsity double
The University of Leicester's women and men's Rugby teams have secured a double Varsity victory over players from De Montfort University during matches played on Wednesday 18 March.
Leicester’s women recorded eight tries in a 45-3 win while the men made sure of the double with a 22-8 victory in front of a large and passionate crowd at the home of the Leicester Tigers.
The women, looking for their 12th consecutive Varsity victory kicked things off and looked in serious mood early on, opening up a 17-point lead in the first quarter of an hour. After running in four tries in the first half to go in with a 22-3 lead, they continued their dominance in the second, scoring the same number of tries. Captain Jessica Wells, Emily Varnals and Anna Stephenson all claimed two apiece to preserve their 12-year unbeaten streak as the game ended 45-3.
After a tight start to the men’s game, where the score stood at 3-3 after a penalty each for both sides, two first half tries in quick succession from Josh Finch and Jack Arundell saw the University of Leicester take control of the contest. Another try from Arundell after a flowing move extended the lead to 22-3 at the break.
The second half was a tense and low-scoring affair, with the only try coming from De Montfort University’s Michael Agyei. It proved to be too little too late as Leicester held on in the final stages to secure a 22-8 victory, extending their annual head-to-head lead to 8-4.
The two victories stretched Leicester’s Varsity lead to 20-6 over DMU as of Wednesday evening, with around 17 games still left to play.