Joint leaders Bath kick off 2026 with impressive BUCS Super Rugby away way at Nottingham
The University of Bath men’s 1st XV kicked off 2026 with an impressive 29-14 BUCS Super Rugby away win at Nottingham.
It was a tricky first fixture after the Christmas break, with Nottingham sitting fourth in the table and the visitors – sponsored by Bath Building Society – missing several players on international duty.
However, first-half tries from Oli Sedgwick, Claudius Wheeler (pictured) and Henry Bartlett, the latter two converted by James Beverley, gave Bath the upper hand at the interval and they secured the victory with further touchdowns from Isaac Sprenger and Roman Andrews.
The bonus-point victory keeps Bath, who are also supported by Rengen, level on points at the top of the table with Loughborough and moves them seven clear of third-placed Exeter.
Next up is the first home match of 2026 as Hartpury visit the 3G Pitch at the Team Bath Sports Training Village on Wednesday 28th January (6.30pm kick-off, free entry).
Match stats
Nottingham starting XV: 1 Roman Constantinou, 2 Sam Loftus, 3 Kane Fleary, 4 Ben Glanville (c), 5 Ollie Barker, 6 Alex Kerr, 7 Lawrence Adediran, 8 Ollie Rose; 9 Max Blinkhorn, 10 Charlie Mason, 11 Alex Garrett, 12 Thomas Cunningham, 13 Ryan Sweeting, 14 Matty Walker, 15 Aiden Doeg. Replacements: 16 Buster Wilkins, 17 Fin McIntosh, 18 Will Stener, 19 Niall Moore, 20 Lewis Richardson, 21 Fergus Mainey, 22 Will Tinley, 23 Julian Nunn.
University of Bath starting XV: 1 Claudius Wheeler, 2 Max Pearce (c), 3 Alfie Griffin, 4 Tom Hilton, 5 Isaac Sprenger, 6 Fred Kempton, 7 Will Keylock; 8 Alex Ridgway, 9 Isaac Mears, 10 James Beverley, 11 Oli Sedgwick, 12 Oscar Bennett, 13 Jamie Howick, 14 Henry Bartlett, 15 Harry Walker. Replacements: 16 Evan Gallagher, 17 Jacob Yates, 18 Diamond Ayiehfor, 19 Albert Dmitriev, 20 Ollie Read, 21 George Guy, 22 Roman Andrews, 23 Jack Winfield.
Tries: Sedgwick, Wheeler, Bartlett, Sprenger, Andrews.
Conversions: Beverley 2.
