May 6th, 2008

Hartpury College could be set to win their second piece of silverware at Twickenham this season when they contest the final of the EDF Energy Senior Vase final against Doncaster outfit Wheatley Hills, kick-off 3pm, on Saturday.

The Gloucestershire side have already scooped the honours in the BUSA Championship, defeating Loughborough University 23-15 on St. George’s Day and this weekend they will be fully charged for another attempt to add to their already bulging silverware cabinet.

As reigning EDF Energy Junior Vase champions, beating Billericay 72-12 a year ago also at Twickenham, not many people will be betting against Hartpury especially as they’ve also wrapped up the Highbridge Jewellers Gloucester Premier league title, winning all of their 22 fixtures.

Hartpury Rugby Academy Director and First Team Coach Allan Lewis said: “This has been another good season for us but it’s not over yet. We have one final job to do and if we can win it, it will be the icing on the cake for us.

“It’s a great feeling to be in the final again, we enjoyed last year’s EDF Energy Junior Vase tremendously, and we are hoping for more of the same this time around.

“I think this year we have got an even stronger squad, and that has been why we’ve been able to be successful in the league, the BUSA competition of the Cup, so far. We have used 40 players in our squad this season and we have rotated them heavily.”

Doncaster’s Wheatley Hills RFC stand in the way of Hartpury’s treble ambitions and they too have enjoyed a good season in the league.

Lewis added: “Wheatley Hills finished fourth in Yorkshire 2 and they have clearly been enjoying a very good season. Honestly, we don’t know too much about them, but I don’t think we can expect such a convincing result in the final this time around. This is a different cup and we have found the opposition much tougher throughout the season so we are certainly expecting a much harder game this time around.”

Notes to editors

EDF Energy is supporting rugby from the grassroots to the elite – through the EDF Energy Cup, EDF Energy National Trophy, EDF Energy Intermediate Cup, EDF Energy Senior and Junior Vase. At grassroots, the energy company is introducing 112,000 primary school children to the sport through the EDF Energy National Schools Rugby Programme. Parent company EDF was a sponsor of the IRB Rugby World Cup 2007 and EDF Energy an ITV broadcast sponsor. EDF is also a major partner of European Rugby Cup Ltd, organiser of the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup.