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Women’s rugby team will represent Great Britain following double BUCS success

The University of Gloucestershire women’s rugby union team who made history by winning the British Universities and Colleges (BUCS) 15-a-side Championship at Twickenham three weeks ago made it a double by winning the BUCS 7s championship at West Park in Leeds.

The University met their Twickenham rivals Cardiff Metropolitan University in the first game of the pool and came away with a narrow 15-14 win, but got better and better as the day went on.

After winning the pool they went on to beat the University of Bath and the University of Edinburgh in the quarter and semi- finals respectively, before meeting the University of Northumbria in the final.

Northumbria, who boasted World Cup winning England captain Katy McLean and England 7s regular Michaela Staniford in their team were no match for the voracious University of Gloucestershire team. With tries from Millie Wood, Sarah Nicholas and Megan Goddard, Gloucestershire dominated the game and came away winners 17-7.

They will now represent Great Britain in the student European 7s championships to be held in Hungary in July.

University of Gloucestershire Captain, Bianca Blackburn, said: “It was a great day. All the girls worked so hard throughout the day, and it was a great squad effort.”

This was echoed by coach and England 7s player Danielle Waterman who praised the effort of all involved: “It is a massive achievement to become double BUCS champions. The way that the girls work so hard for each other and some of the rugby they played was amazing.”

University of Gloucestershire Head of Rugby Union, Mark Jeffreys commented: “To win the 15s at Twickenham was a fantastic achievement, but to come out again and do exactly the same in the 7s is just superb. This is a special group of girls who I’m sure will progress onto even bigger and better things.”