Exeter looking to build on 2017/18 University National Touch Series success

The 2018/19 University National Touch Series taps off in Maidenhead this Saturday, and the University of Exeter players are looking to build on their maiden Series success last time around.

Exeter was the dominant force last time out, winning the majority of the Cup titles during the University NTS and sending multiple teams to most of the venues, too.

Ewan Armstrong was part of the winning squad and he says that the club is looking for more of the same in 2018/19.

“We won it last year and would like to do it again,” he says. “Last year was good. We had limited experience in winning before that, so we broke the barrier of what we thought had been an impossible task, and we’re hoping to build on that this year.

“In terms of the competition, we’re expecting Bath to be good again, but people come from all over the world to English universities so you never know who will turn up.”

Sixteen squads will be in the Thames Valley this weekend, with 10 universities represented. Each team will have three 25-minute round-robin games in the morning – two 12-minute halves with a one-minute half-time – before the top eight teams go into the Cup and the remaining eight teams go into the Bowl.

Each knockout competition then subdivides once again into the Shield and Plate after the quarter final stage, meaning that teams will continue to have meaningful competition until late in the day.

The first tap off is at 10am with the tournament concluding at around 5pm.

CLICK HERE to see the full list of matches.

POOLS

Pool 1Exeter Hurricanes, Southampton, Oxford, Nottingham

Pool 2Bath 1, Loughborough 2, Exeter Storm, Cambridge

Pool 3Loughborough 1, Exeter Typhoon, Bath 2, Bristol Ladders

Pool 4Bristol Snakes, Exeter Monsoon, Surrey, Royal Veterinary College