Phil Hodgson looks back on the President’s Cups, which were played on Wednesday evenings throughout May.
England Universities have secured the Men’s title, while the Women’s Championship has gone the way of England Students although, in each case, UK Armed Forces were in serious contention before finishing second in the respective tables.
The Men’s President’s Cup, which is a four-team competition, also involved Great Britain Police and Great Britain Teachers. The Women’s President’s Cup, meanwhile, is a three-side affair, with Great Britain Teachers also taking part. And the 2023 tournaments, which were played on a round-robin basis, both went down to the wire, with UK Armed Forces missing out in each instance.
The Men’s event, which was played as a double-header each time, started as something of a damp squib, with the games between England Universities and Great Britain Police, and Great Britain Teachers and UK Armed Forces, which were scheduled for Wednesday 29 March, being postponed because host club Rochdale Mayfield had been drawn at home to Newcastle Thunder the following Saturday in the fourth round of the Betfred Challenge Cup. Those games were postponed to 10 May, and the competition subsequently launched on 26 April at Lock Lane.
UK Armed Forces ratified their status as holders by beating the Police 50-4, Juite Tupua claiming a hat-trick in a game in which the Police were 22 points adrift before Ryan Pickles scored their only try as the interval beckoned. Matty Gaskell scored a try and seven goals for the Forces, while Jake Boardman, Liam Bradley, Jack Ray, Kieran Prescott and Jack Bartlett dotted down.
England Universities, meanwhile, got their title bid underway with a 54-14 scuttling of Great Britain Teachers, who actually improved despite having Danny Holmes red-carded on 22 minutes for allegedly stamping on an opponent’s hand. In a huge irony the referee, Ben Brocklehurst, was a former pupil of Holmes. The Teachers, who were 28 points in arrears when Holmes walked, only `lost’ the rest of the contest 26-14, Rob Marsh converting one of tries by Nathan Lyons, Elliott Denett and Aaron Hall. But the Students were always in control, with Dan White grabbing a try on his birthday and Leon Stewart and Joe Riley both crossing twice. Jack Mallinson, Charlie McCurrie, Joe Wardill, Iwan Orr and Matty Rudd closed the account, and Mallinson landed seven goals.
The Armed Forces and the Students maintained their 100 per cent records, and the Police and the Teachers were left seeking their first wins, when what should have been the President’s Cup’s opening fixtures took place (still at Mayfield) on 10 May.
England Universities booked a berth in what was effectively the final, against the Armed Forces, by beating the previous year’s surprise packets, the Police (who had undermined the Students’ title challenge in 2022 with a shock success) 27-20.
The Police, who were only 20-14 behind with twelve minutes left, were thwarted through an Alfie Crawford try, with Mallinson adding the extras and a field goal before John O’Donnell claimed a consolation try for the Police, with Scott Leatherbarrow appending his second conversion.
Joe Riley, Connor Gilbey, Chris Gale and Chris Ball had crossed earlier for the Students, Matty Rudd adding a couple of conversions, while the Police had been in contention through tries by Ryan Pickles, Jay Panter and O’Donnell.
The Armed Forces, meanwhile, knew that the championship would be theirs if their game with England Universities was to finish all-square, their 40-16 verdict over the Teachers securing a superior points’ difference. It hadn’t looked that way with ten minutes left, though, when the holders were only 26-16 ahead. But unanswered tries for Prescott, James Texeira and Danny Dainty, plus a conversion apiece by Gaskell and Rhys Joel, gave the final scoreline something of a lopsided look. Brodie-Lee Butler had bagged an earlier brace for UKAF, with James Tilley, Jeffeti Vakalabure and Kiniviliame Dakuliga darting over and Gaskill improving two efforts.
In the event there was little likelihood of points’ difference coming into the equation, the Students easing to a 32-12 win over the Armed Forces in the final game of the series, at Orrell St James WHEN, to lift the title for the first time in five years.
England Universities, who were 20 points clear midway through the second half, closed with two tries by Luke Phoenix and touchdowns for Joe Wardill, Jack Cherry, Jake Lightowler and Charlie McCurrie, with Rudd landing four goals. UK Armed Forces were limited to tries by Prescott and Joe Thresh, both of which Jake Boardman improved.
The battle to avoid bottom spot, meanwhile, went the way of the Police, who accounted for the Teachers 34-16 after having trailed 10-6 midway through the first half.
The Teachers, who were 22-10 behind at the interval, scored the last points of the game, through Jacob Brown on 62 minutes, with Rob Marsh adding his second goal, but it was simply a consolation effort for the wooden spoonists, who had opened with tries by Nathan Taylor and Dan Douglas.
Jack Morrison scored four tries for the Police, Rob Froggatt and Adam Coopman dotted down, and Scott Leatherbarrow booted five goals.
Great Britain Teachers also finished bottom of the class in the Women’s President’s Cup – after taking UK Armed Forces mightily close in the series opener at Mayfield on 22 March.
The Teachers were 10-4 ahead with time running out, through tries by Claire Collins and Alisha Clayton, plus an Ellie Turner conversion. But the Armed Forces, who had previously been limited to an Ella Donnelly effort, snatched a 14-10 win with late touchdowns for Emily White and Kaiya Glynn, who goaled her own score.
It was a different matter in the second game, in which England Students saw off the Teachers 36-0 at Lock Lane, posting two tries by Mayzi Carter and touchdowns for Olivia Whitehead, Megan Williams, Elsie Gater, Grace Banks, Caitlin Casey and Gracie Bradshaw nipped over out wide in the closing seconds, Whitehead adding a couple of goals.
That left England Universities and UK Armed Forces facing off for the title in the final game, at Orrell St James, and the Students prevailed in emphatic fashion – lifting the Pankhurst trophy at the same time – winning 42-8 after the Armed Forces had been only 12-8 down midway through the first half.
The runners-up, however, were unable to build on tries by Isabell Bibby and Carrie Roberts, while the champions remained in top gear, closing with two tries each for Grace Banks and Izzi Northrop, with Whitehead – who was sin-binned in the second half for foul play – adding a try and seven goals from as many attempts. Molly Jones and Eva Hunter also touched down.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 486 (July 2023)
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