By Andrew Murphy
Kingston University 102
University of the Arts 0
Kingston’s first XV were rampant on Wednesday afternoon, scoring a ton against University of the Arts London in an entertaining encounter at Tolworth.
The Arts had difficulty keeping possession, frequently losing the ball right in front of their own try line and inviting the home side to pile on the points. Laurence Stephan scored five tries of his own with a series of devastating runs.
As weak as the away side were, Kingston worked for their chances, heaping on pressure from each restart as Arts tried to push forward with a little too much urgency.
After the final whistle, Kingston coach Arran Cruickshanks revealed he had set his side a target of a clean sheet at half time, and they set about their task resolutely, dealing with anything the visitors could throw at them.
Going into the break 64 points to the good, Kingston were handed a piece of luck at half time as their opponents’ loose-head prop hobbled off the pitch, unable to carry on.
With no natural front row replacement, Arts felt their loss as Kingston turned over another scrum to start the second period with their eleventh try.
KU were starting to enjoy their rugby, and it certainly showed. They were allowed to run and gain territory with far too much ease before being tackled and marauding fullback John Brooker had Arts’ backs up with a cheeky finish as he held the ball aloft running under the posts.
Despite being so far in front, Kingston showed no sign of relenting, and that was something which pleased coach Cruickshanks as much as the result itself.
“You really can’t argue with that score line,” said Cruickshanks. “I was impressed with how we kept working til the end, even though the match was already won.”
“All we can do is keep winning to put pressure on Surrey, and just wait for that big game.”