Current captain Chris Kinloch who has played in every game for Loughborough this season will join National League 1 top points scorer Andy Hall and former student Camilo Parilli-Ocampo in the side.

Kinloch started at Loughborough in 2009, choosing to further his education having played for Glasgow Warriors. Since joining the side Chris has been an integral part of the team playing both in centre and on the wing.

After leading the team to seventh place in their first season in National League 1 Chris will be looking to build on his career, which has already seen him play for Scotland U20’s and Scotland 7’s.

Loughborough Students Head Coach, Dave Morris said:“Chris has been a great example of the behaviours required to succeed and contributed fully to our great club. He has done a lot for the development of our culture at Loughborough and I know he will have a similar impact at Ealing Trailfinders.”

Expanding on this, backs coach Scott Bemand claimed:“Since coming to Loughborough University from Glasgow Warriors, Kinners has embodied what Loughborough Students aim to be. His dedication to being the best he can be has been inspiring.

 “His ability to have moments all over the pitch and in different scenario’s has highlighted his skill set to the maximum. We look forward to seeing how he continues his rugby development in the Championship.”

Joining Chris is Andy Hall whose league leading points score of 319 is according to Scott Bemand a ‘testament to his abilities as a strong runner with exceptional kicking skills. Andy’s development this year has been key to the on field success of our Club.’

Andy’s ability to kick means he predominately plays at fly half but has experience of playing both full back and central positions.

Speaking about the pair Ealing Trailfinders Director of Rugby Mike Cudmore said:“Both players have had very good seasons performing well week in week out for Loughborough. The Loughborough rugby system produces players who have been well coached, have good core skills and are well conditioned. We have high hopes for both these players for the coming season.”

A third Loughborough related signing for Ealing Trialfinders is that of Camilo Parilli-Ocampo, a former student who, after signing for local Premiership club Leicester Tigers takes a range of experience with him into his new club.

”It is great to see Camilo recover from a serious injury to get another professional contract and we wish him the best of luck this coming season” said Dave Morris.

With five signings so far, and a number of former players also getting in on the action, Loughborough Students Rugby will be well represented in the Championship during the 2013/14 season.

By Sophie Thomas

Plenty of videos appear during freshers years, but this one proved to be pretty productive. Wilson said:”I played for the first team throughout my freshers year, so i put together a video at the end of it. So between that footage  and Dave Morris (Loughborough Director of Rugby) who has been instrumental in making the right connections, the process began.

“I then took part in a couple of training camps, and played for an England development side in the development tournament at the Dubai sevens last year, and have been in discussions since”

But Wilson will have to wait until academic matters are attended to first, before his attention switches to trying to make a leap for the main tournament in Dubai later this year.

He added:”I’ve got exams until June which is when some of the other boys start. My actual contract starts on July 1st, but i’ll be talking to Ben (Ryan) and Russell (Earnshaw) when things calm down for them a little bit.

“It’s my first contract so i’m absolutely buzzing, and can’t wait to start working hard for it!” 

Related Article: LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS WING WILSON SIGNS FOR ENGLAND SEVENS 

Alongside the home club, Premiership club Worcester Warriors will be sending an academy team with further local interest provided by the newly formed Oxford Rugby League Club, who play their home matches at Iffley Road and will look to challenge for the title in the opposite code! Excitingly Leeds Rugby Academy, a joint Rhinos  & Carnegie project will make their way from the north to try and replicate what Wigan and Bradford Bulls have done in the past by winning a union 7’s event in the south! The White Hart Marauders who play on the National 7’s circuit are also sending an academy squad and will pose a significant threat, and we are delighted that Bath University are also entered as OURFC looks to develop a closer relationship between the two University rugby clubs.

The draw has now been made with the teams divided into two groups:
Group 1 – Oxford University, Worcester Warrriors, Oxford Rugby League
Group 2 – Leeds Rugby Academy, White Marauders Academy, Bath University 

Whilst this event clashes with the London leg of the IRB 7’s Series, those unable to get to Twickenham will have the opportunity to see some high quality 7’s on their doorstep at an historic venue at a very reasonable price.

Entry is just £5 for adults and £2 for concessions (over 60’s, under 18’s & students). There will be no parking available at the ground on the day, for alternatives within walking distance please look at the Contact Us section on our website www.ourfc.org

Alongside the rugby will be a number of other activities taking place, including: Bouncy Castle, Face Painting, Oxfordshire Fire Service on site with a fully equipped vehicle, refreshment stalls and bars.

For further information please email ourfc@sport.ox.ac.uk or call 01865 432000.

The gates will be open from 10.00am with the schedule of matches below:

Schedule of finals matches:

Speaking after their semi-final loss against Harlequins at The Floodlit Sevens last Thursday, Director of Rugby at Loughborough Dave Morris conveyed a real sense of pride at the remarkable turnaround:“It’s definitely been a step up, but it’s been a step up we’ve enjoyed.

“We did struggle in those first six games, i think because of the cyclical nature of student rugby where you lose a lot of players, then it takes time to build the strong bonds and relationships between players. But with any university side, when players are sutdying, living and playing together, by the end of the season those bonds are exceptionally strong.

“They’re friends for life now these guys, and that showed in the spirit within the squad and their guts and determination at the end of the season”

Also See: QUINS SHINE THRICE AT FLOODLIT SEVENS

A string of this years crop have already been snapped up by professional clubs and England sevens.  Championship club The Cornish Pirates regularly plunder the Loughborough talent ship, with players like Phill Burgess and Grant Pointer signing for them in previous seasons, and have continued the trend this season by signing Craig Holland, Jake Parker and Joe Atkinson. Wing Callum Wilson has also been recruited by Ben Ryan to bolster the squad for the increasingly more competitive HSBC sevens campaign.

So what is it about the Loughborough programme that is so appealing to players talented enough to play at the top of the game in this country?

“I think it just shows that with our programme, a young player can get a great education, then move onto the next level with their rugby.

“We’re very proud that some of these guys are moving onto the next stage, eight players got professional contracts last season, and we’re expecting a few more to come out pretty soon.”

The cycle restarts again this summer, and come what May next year, everyone will wondering who the next group of players will be to come out of their three years spent in the Loughborough machine with a professional contract.

images: Richmond and Loughborough websites

Five minutes in and the ball was pushed rolling by the man at the base of the scrum who alongside Harry Williams has made our scrum notoriously known for being able to hold their own against bigger and heavier packs. Williams made a break just short of the try line then after a Sedgley scrum it was Students’ Joe Burton who found himself with the ball and a try. Andy Hall, who had set himself the target to become Top Point Scorer of the league after falling just short last year, converted to add 2 vital points to his tally. It took Sedgley over 10 minutes of knocking on Loughborough’s door, phase after phase, but only coming out triumphant after taking one of their many “debatable” penalties quickly and catching the Loughborough defence off guard. It was prop Ben Black who got the try which was completed with a conversion from Simon Hetherington to level the score for the only time in the match.

Ali Bone put his bid in to remain in the Loughborough four jersey as he clipped the line after several pick and go’s from Loughborough just minutes after Sedgley had levelled the score putting the Students ahead 7-12.

Craig Holland demonstrated the speed that has earned him a place in Championship side Cornish Pirates next season with a try after a set-piece went beautifully from the kick off allowing play-maker Hall to swing it wide for on running Holland.He in turn allowed Hall to add another two points. Loughborough’s defence put Sedgley under pressure in the ruck as and they turned over the ball. Chris Kinloch offloaded over the defender to Jeremy Cunnew who took the final steps to the try line to put the Students comfortably ahead 7-26 after Hall converted.

The back line saw the present work with the future as Rhys Owen gave supporters a glimpse into next season running a beautiful line straight through the home side defence to offload it to Man of the Match and Captain Chris Kinloch who made his last match memorable with a try under the posts which Hall had no problem making up the extras.

Two minutes and two touches later Craig Dowsett added his name to the list of players scoring in their last appearance as he touched down after running the length of the pitch to end the half on a successful conversion. This made Loughborough’s score a point a minute at 7-40.

The home side came out slightly refreshed and an organised defensive line saw the Students have to work a bit harder for a break which hooker Jay Rudland-Thomas took. Rudland-Thomas worked hard to keep up the pace after two chances of an offload were missed by the supporting Hall but third time lucky as the legal pass saw Hall under the sticks and then in front of them to convert. It wasn’t long before Hall was back under the posts after running half the pitch from supporting another break. Hall scored the same amount of points Sedgley scored the entire game in seven minutes taken the score to 7-54.

Then came the super subs aka the super Sam’s. Loughborough had a few opportunities that fell just short due to over-excited forward passes however these errors were made up for as Loughborough won back the ball from a Sedgley scrum to allow substitute Sam Heygate to score.

Then Sam Hughes took the torch of the prestigious Super Sub title and ran with it. Hughes creeped in unnoticed by defenders from the fullback position to the wing and running in Loughborough’s 10th, 11th and 13th tries of the match in the same fashion each time. However not even the super subs could hold off the Sedgley attack after Loughborough knocked it on in their own 22 and saw Paul Urmston go over in the corner.

On the other wing and not wanting to be overshadowed Craig Dowsett demonstrated his speed down the line after supporting Sam Heygate who shrugged off shy tacklers to score the visitors’ 14th try. George Eastwell doubled his number of tries scored this season making his overall count four. His well-earned try came from another Heygate break,as substitute Michael Oliver made it to the tackle just in time to offload it to the cheetah-like speed of Eastwell. Hughes scored in his fourth of the game after Hall brilliantly kicked the ball over the last defenders to be caught beautifully by Hughes over the line.

With the home side just counting down the minutes Loughborough were right back down over the try line a minute later as Eastwell got the Students over the 100 mark. Hall had the last say of the game converting as the match was stopped 7 minutes short with both teams satisfied. Loughborough got their best score of the season in their last game after starting the season with their worst. Looking from where they’ve come their achievement went much deeper than the score board. Critics had written them off after the first few weeks of the season, suggesting they had “claimed one of the relegation spots already” but they ended with a positive win/loss record.

Hall also successfully claimed the title of Top Point Scorer in this National 1 season. Today was a massive day for some of the players who wore their Loughborough Students’ jersey for the last time;in the forwards Jake Parker, Eoin Cremen, Jeremy Cunnew and Sam Heygate and from the backs Andy Hall, Chris Kinloch, Craig Holland and Graig Dowsett. We wish them all the best for the future whichever direction they go in and for the boys who are going to be playing next season all the best of luck. This team has set an excellent marker so we look forward to watching you raise the bar.

Final Score: Loughborough 106-12 Sedgely Park Tigers

By Kellen Hutchison

Teams: Sedgley Tigers RFC Cheshire, Hetherington, Horsfall, Entwistle, Cheyne, Urmston, Paine, Alcock, Wilson, Black, Leader (c), Bethell, West, Whitton, Lamprey Subs: Kouadio, Briggs, Parkinson, Duckworth, Parrott

Loughborough Students RFC  Holland, Dowsett, Morrison, Eastwell, Kinloch (c), Hall, MacManus, Collister, Crozier, Williams , Parker, Albon, Heygate, Cremen, Burton Subs: Cunnew, Rudland-Thomas, Bone, Pointer, Owen

GROUPS

A depleted Clifton outfit were no match from the outset for an outstanding Hartpury team, who racked up 100 league points and 1000 match points after already ensuring third place last weekend.

Cornish Pirates-bound centre Alex Dancer opened the scoring for the home side on seven minutes when he touched down by the uprights.

Ian Clark then bagged a clinical brace either side of Clifton’s lone three points, which came courtesy of Ben Roberts’ simple penalty.

Evans gathered the restart after Clark secured his double and stormed home for a superb solo effort, before quick hands released Steph Reynolds on the right.

Number eight Evans skipped through the visitors’ defence once again to make the score 36-3 at the interval, Craig Jackson having converted three of Hartpury’s six tries.

There was no let-up for Clifton, whose National Two South future remains uncertain with one game remaining, in the second half as Evans quickly sealed his hat-trick with another penetrating burst from distance.

George Boulton nipped in from a ruck to bring up the half-century for the hosts, while Evans scored his fourth off a tapped penalty.

Still the onslaught continued as fine build-up play saw replacement Brandon Walker crash over on the hour, Jackson slotting his sixth and final conversion of the day, with Evans completing his haul two minutes later.

Reynolds picked up well off the floor to round off the scoring 11 minutes from time, before a bizarre series of events in the dying minutes.

With Reynolds suffering injury and only hooker Chris Fortey and prop Darren Crompton left on the bench, Fortey was forced on in place of the winger.

The 37-year-old was promptly sin-binned within three minutes after his teammate Grant Hancox had also seen yellow seconds earlier.

Incredibly, Hartpury were then reduced to 12 men as Tom Ailes became the third player to fall foul of referee Rowan Kitt’s card, but even then Clifton failed to break through and the hosts survived with their try line intact.

By Ross Martinovic