Dear Alumni,

BU got their spring season underway on Saturday. After months of practice we could finally test ourselves against stiff opposition in the form of neighbours BC and Harvard in an abbreviated Bean Pot tournament.

Despite dominating possession and territory, BU looked like a team who hadn’t played together for months as poor decision-making at crucial moments prevented us from closing the game out. With minutes on the clock left and guarding a slender 11-7 lead BC took advantage of some naïve defending to score a try in the corner and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It was very disappointing to lose after being on top for most of the game but hopefully some harsh lessons were learned.

Next game Harvard looked hugely impressive as they demolished BC to win 29-0.

BU were clearly going to have to improve their game considerably if they were going to compete in the final game of the afternoon. However, this team has shown plenty of character and self-belief in recent years and the players took to the field determined to put right the errors committed in the earlier game. Harvard scored first from a well worked set move but on the stroke of half-time BU touched down to trail 7-5 at the break.

The second half saw BU begin to play with fluency and intensity. Confidence began to ooze from the players as eight – nine phase plays were strung together. Tries from Ed, Colin Yipp, and Freshman Chris Smith in addition to a penalty from Antoine gave us a very satisfying 27-7 win. Whilst we were left to rue a missed opportunity in making it two wins from two, it was great to see the team play so well in emphatically beating a powerhouse such as Harvard.

Attention turns to this Saturday and I very much look forward to seeing many of you at the Alumni game on Nickerson at 1pm. Kind regards,

Justin Evans

(Coach, BURFC)