Landslide Win for MMU Rugby Union

MMU Men’s Rugby Send Leeds Beckett Home Empty-Handed

The penultimate match of the MMU 1’s 2022/23 season saw them get their revenge and beat Leeds Beckett University 2’s at home with a final score of 55-7.

However, today’s scoreline did not accurately reflect the game that took place at Platt Lane, as we saw a game of two uneven halves. 

It was clear that MMU were still holding a grudge from their 26-19 loss to Beckett when they last met in December, their speed and brutality in attack from kick-off far put them in the shadow of their opponent’s posts six times in the opening half..

MMU took an early lead with Harry Thompson (2), filling in from Sale Sharks for Oli Powell, scoring their first try off a driving maul after only 10 minutes.

From then on we saw MMU score try after try, each point another lump of dirt being dug out for Leeds Beckett’s grave. 

The digging continued for another 22 minutes before Beckett scored their first and only try of the game, by which time MMU had extended their lead and racked up another 31 points, bringing the score to 36-7 at half time. 

With the scores so heavily in their favour, MMU were given the space to add flare and creativity to their game, which came in the form of a cross-field kick from Tom Walker (10) to Fin Hare (11) for MMU’s second try.

Two and half minutes later, Max van Hilst (9) linked up to create at 2-on-1 down the blindside of an MMU scrum to secure another.

Vice Captain Dirk Bruil (4) displayed some fancy footwork for his silky solo try, Toby Crane (13) took a short ball from Greg Morgan (8) through a tackle and dashed half the pitch for his try, and Jordan Lombard (12) made an interception that took everyone by surprise, him included.

Any hopes for Beckett repeating their home victory against MMU in December had been snuffed out, and all they could do now was try to limit the damage of the day’s loss.

In the second half, Beckett showed more defiance in the face of their oppressor and managed to keep MMU’s scoreline down to only two tries; one from Ryan Woolfenden (6) and one from last match’s MVP Felix Lorimer, both of whom brought resilience and fortitude in attack and defence in their forward positions.

MMU showed dominance through both set pieces throughout, lineouts especially which were commanded by VC Dirk Bruil (4), though the wet weather caused studs to slip on the 4G astro and a couple of scrums collapsed.

Man of the Match was awarded to Toby Crane (13) by commentator and injured player Tom Charsley-Evans for his try, consistent meters made on the ball and reliable support play for the full 80 minutes.

So with two home wins in a row, can MMU make it a hat trick in their final showdown of the season against Doncaster next week? 

Be sure to tune into MMU Matchday Live via the MMU Sport YouTube channel next Wednesday to find out!