Gwilym Bradley and Will Flinn make top-flight debuts as University of Bath Rugby Club players line up on national and international stage
It was a proud weekend for the University of Bath Rugby Club as nine current and former students lined up for club and country.
Two of them – Gwilym Bradley and Will Flinn (pictured) – were making their top-flight debuts, with scrum-half Flinn coming on for his first Premiership Rugby appearance for Gloucester Rugby where he is currently on loan from RFU Championship club Hartpury.
Flinn and fellow Sports Performance graduate Freddie Clarke both came off the bench for Gloucester during their 38-15 defeat to a Leicester Tigers team coached by Economics & Politics alumni Steve Borthwick and featuring Zack Henry in their starting XV.
Henry – who studied Sport & Exercise Science – kicked two conversions and three penalties during an impressive performance for Tigers on the opening weekend of the 2020-21 season.
Sports Performance graduate Miles Reid was man of the match for Bath Rugby during their 19-12 home defeat to Newcastle Falcons and Sport Management & Coaching student Beck Cutting came on in the second half to help Worcester Warriors secure an 11-10 victory over London Irish.
There was also plenty of Blue & Gold representation in the Guinness PRO14 league where second-year Economics student Gwilym Bradley, a Wales U20 international, made his Cardiff Blues debut as a second-half replacement against defending champions Leinster.
Massively proud week for the Brothers as we had a HUGE 9 players playing top class rugby. Special mentions to Gwil Bradley and Will Flinn for making their debuts for @cardiff_blues and @gloucesterrugby, respectively. Lots of @BUCSSuperRugby experience in this lineup!! #BFEO pic.twitter.com/DlEm8BBmHS
— University of Bath RFC (@UOBathRugby) November 23, 2020
Alumni Rhys Davies and Luca Petrozzi were on opposing teams in Swansea, representing Ospreys and Italian club Benetton respectively in a hard-fought 24-22 win for the home side.
Capping a memorable weekend was a third senior England appearance in as many weeks for Sports Performance graduate and Bath Rugby hooker Tom Dunn, who came off the bench in the closing stages of the Roses’ 18-7 victory over Ireland in the Autumn Nations Cup.
Bradley, Cutting, Davies, Flinn, Petrozzi and Reid have all played for the Team Bath men’s 1st XV in BUCS Super Rugby, the highly-competitive league for the top ten rugby-playing universities in England and Wales.
Click here to find out more about combining rugby and study at the University of Bath.
