Bath off to flying start in 2025-26 BUCS Super Rugby season with eight-try away victory over defending champs Hartpury
The University of Bath men’s 1st XV kicked off their 2025-26 BUCS Super Rugby campaign with an eye-catching eight-try away win against defending champions Hartpury.
The visitors, sponsored by Bath Building Society, hit the ground running as they rattled up an impressive 54-21 victory in their opening fixture.
Max Pearce, one of the try scorers on the evening, said: “The boys have put down a marker. To come to here and score 50 points is genuinely a really hard task, Hartpury are a very good team. We aren’t firing fully yet either so to produce that result, how high can our barrier be?”
The visitors included four players in their ranks who were fresh from making their senior Bath Rugby debuts in the PREM Rugby Cup against Exeter last weekend. Co-captain Pearce and Alfie Griffin lined up in the front row, while freshers Alex Ridgway and James Linegar were among the replacements.
Bath fell behind to a converted try inside two minutes but fought back fiercely with tries from prop Claudius Wheeler, BUCS Super Rugby debutant Sam Winters, England U20 international Tyler Offiah and fellow winger Austin Emens, all converted by Will Roue (pictured top), to lead 28-7 with just over a quarter of the match played.
Hartpury cut the gap to 28-14 at half-time, then scored another converted try five minutes into the second half but any concerns of a comeback were quickly ended as Pearce touched down and Emens grabbed his second of the game.
Roue converted the latter, then notched a try of his own – again adding the extras – before Bath underlined their dominance by forcing a penalty try with five minutes to go.
Next up for Bath – also supported by Team Bath partners Rengen – is a first home match of the season against Leeds Beckett on Wednesday 1st October. Kick-off is 6.30pm on the new 3G pitch, accessed via the Team Bath Sports Training Village, and spectators can watch for free.
Free tickets are also now available for the Anniversary Game, sponsored by Colour Studios, which sees Bath take on South West rivals at The Rec on Wednesday 15th October. Visit teambath.com/anniversary-game to find out more.
Match stats
University of Bath starting XV: 1 Claudius Wheeler, 2 Max Pearce (cc), 3 Alfie Griffin, 4 Rory McKnight, 24 Enoch Upoku-Gyamfi, 6 Tate Williams, 7 Iwan Coyle, 8 Connor Treacey (cc); 9 Isaac Mears, 10 Will Roue, 11 Tyler Offiah, 12 Luc Anfield, 13 Charlie Griffin, 14 Austin Emens, 15 Sam Winters. Replacements: 16 Evan Gallagher, 17 Jacob Yates, 18 Diamond Ayiehfor, 19 Will Keylock, 20 Alex Ridgway, 21 Roman Andrews, 22 James Linegar, 23 Jack Woods.
Tries: Wheeler, Winters, Offiah, Emens 2, Pearce, Roue, penalty.
Conversions: Roue 7.
