Saints Triumph in Varsity

An expectant hum buzzed around The Hive Stadium. The gusty autumnal weather set the tone for what is to be a turbulent encounter in the shadow of Murrayfield Stadium. 

The students of St Andrews travelled in their masses to support their team at what was the highlight of the university rugby calendar: the Scottish Varsity match against Edinburgh. The eight-thousand-seater stadium must have been at least two-thirds full. 

The bagpipes fell silent following a rousing rendition of ‘Flower of Scotland’, and after a minute’s silence for Finlay MacDonald, a student and member of the University of St Andrews Rugby Club who passed away this past summer, the game was underway.

The greasy, artificial turf made handling difficult; knock-ons punctuated the cagey opening exchanges. Nerves are inevitable in what is the biggest match in many students’ careers, and it took both sides about ten minutes to settle in.

Edinburgh posed the greater threat early on, but a dangerous-looking up-and-under kick was calmly dealt with by Saints fullback Andrew Nash. The hosts had St Andrews pegged back in their twenty-two, and after a sustained spell of pressure, Edinburgh drew first blood on twelve minutes with Alex Harrison opening the scoring. 

St Andrews were not deterred and responded positively to the early setback, winning a penalty just inside the Edinburgh half. Kicker Christopher Schreuder attempted an ambitious kick which drifted agonisingly wide but signalled a sure statement of intent. The fly-half was accustomed to the big stage, having started his career with South African outfit Stormers in Super Rugby. 

Any fears of a repeat of the 2019 Varsity match, which saw St Andrews on the receiving end of a 62-0 thrashing, were alleviated when second-row John Paterson levels midway through the first half. The Saints’ displayed a kind of resilience that can make all the difference in games such as these.

An Edinburgh penalty kick was the only other event of note in the first half, and the referee’s half-time whistle signalled a mass exodus from the stands; a sea of tweed surged towards the numerous food and refreshment vans. Even the price of a Tennent’s — north of five pounds — did not dampen the insatiable thirst of the crowd. 

Despite having the better of the first forty, St Andrews restricted a bullish Edinburgh to a slim 8-5 lead at the break. A resolute defensive display kept the visitors in the game, but there was work to be done yet in the second half. 

The Saints emerged, guns blazing after the break, and punished a sluggish Edinburgh restart. Joe van Hoffen finished off a well-worked move to give St Andrews the lead, which was assuredly converted by Schreuder. The now well-lubricated St Andrews faithful were in good voice and choruses of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ reverberated through the stands.

Edinburgh responded with a try of their own, bringing the sides within a score of each other. With just over twenty minutes to go, we headed towards “squeaky bum time,” to quote Sir Alex Ferguson.

Tensions rose as the second half dragged on. There were a few ‘afters’ at the breakdown and a testosterone-fuelled tussle broke out. The scrappy period culminated in a yellow card for the Saints. If Edinburgh were to have come back, they would have had to have capitalised on the extra man. 

St Andrews displayed the kind of steadfast resistance that would have made the great Neil Warnock himself proud. Skipper Fergus Cato’s pre-match talk was no doubt inspired by the rousing motivational speeches of the former Sheffield United manager.

The storm was successfully weathered and, back to the full complement, St Andrews extended their lead through more precision kicking by Schreuder. The young South African slotted a penalty from a distance and the stadium PA blasted Pitbull’s 2014 hit ‘Fireball’ in celebration. Mr Worldwide would almost certainly have appreciated this textbook-kicking display.

Credit must go to the St Andrews pack, whose industrious performance bludgeoned their side towards victory. Sam Wright, making his fifth Varsity appearance, showed all of his experience in the front row and substitute Dan McNamara made an instant impact off the bench, winning two decisive penalties. 

With the visitors more than ten points clear and the clock ticking towards eighty minutes, a St Andrews win seemed inevitable. Many of the rugby club ultras, seated just below me, were several sheets to the wind and probably mentally on the dancefloor of their preferred Cowgate-based music establishment already.

As the referee put the whistle to his mouth for the final time, the St Andrews bench surged onto the pitch, a sea of blue mobbing their teammates. All involved with Saints rugby had every right to be delighted after such a hard-fought victory.

The trophy was lifted and the crowd dispersed, no doubt troubled at the prospect of having braved the frankly insufficient Edinburgh transport links. Fortunately, Hearts were away at St Mirren, having spared the largely English and American crowd the prospect of any confrontation on the Scottish capital’s tram network.

Before things got ‘loose’, Varsity debutant Archie McCusker spoke to The Saint: “It was definitely the best atmosphere I’ve ever played in. Credit to the St Andrews fans who brought the noise,” the rugby club Vice-Captain and first team hooker recounted. 

“Our defensive display in the first half was crucial. Edinburgh didn’t get a point from their multi-phase attacks which kept us in the game,” said McCusker. “Last year, [Edinburgh] built a really big lead in the first half which made it very difficult for us to come back.” 

“Credit has to go to Chris Schreuder and Campbell Swanson who really pushed them back with their kicking game in the second half. Chris’ kicking was world-class from hand and tee; he deservedly won Man of the Match.”

With the trophy now safely back in St Andrews, and the lengthy celebrations over, attention turns to the remainder of the gruelling season ahead. In the third tier of BUCS this season, the Saints face away days as far as Birmingham and Loughborough. They will certainly be hoping that this Varsity victory is a positive foreshadowing of things to come.

Photo by Stephan Law