By Duncan Wood
May 10 2002

It's been a tough season for the U21s in 2001-2. There have been many tough matches and they have had to overcome the absence of some key players due to injury and first team duties. However, they have come through it all in fine style.

The Bristol U21 outfit will play their final game of the season against Saracens on Saturday at 2pm.

The team will be presented with the trophy for clinching the league title for the third consecutive year by James Hill the Marketing Communications Director of Zurich.

To mark the occasion, the U21s will be playing at the Memorial Stadium for the first time this season so hopefully a decent sized crowd will turn up to give them a good reception.

Paul Hull's boys have had another magnifiicent season, a campaign in which the overall standard of Academy rugby seems to have increased across the board. For the record, their playing record this season is as follows:

Played 19, Won 15, Drawn 2, Lost 2, Points For 566, Points Against 348

80 tries, 44 cons, 25 pens, 1 dg

Leading points scorers

Duncan Hayward 80 ( 3T 25C 5P )
Nathan Bressington 70 ( 14T )
Owen Evans 66 ( 4T 11C 8P )
Adam Staniforth 56 ( 1T 6C 12P 1DG )

Leading try scorers

Nathan Bressington 14
Rob Higgitt 7
Paul Hodgson 5
Ollie Kohn 5
Richard Martin-Redman 5

So, the unbeaten record may have gone this season but 2 defeats in 3 whole seasons is something to be very proud of. Last season's captain, Ross Blake has gone on to become a regular in the first team squad this season and the production continues with Chris Morgan (pictured below) and Rhys Oakley having signed senior deals during the course of the season.

There is added incentive for the team to maintain the momentum as the season draws to a close because, for the first time, there will be a playoff for the top 8 U21 teams culminating in a final appearance at Twickenham. Hopefully, the squad will maintain their form because a day out at head quarters is the least they deserve after another fine season.