With the Six Nations Championship just around the corner, we thought there is no better place to start than the nine BUCS Super Rugby stars who have received call-ups to represent their respective nations.
England
Alex Dombrandt
BUCS Super Rugby’s poster boy Alex Dombrandt earned his first England cap against Canada in July 2021, following his form for Harlequins. Since turning pro, we have seen him lift the Premiership trophy and score 36 tries in 76 appearances in his professional club career. This form is nothing new for followers of BUCS Super Rugby given Dombrandt’s record of 16 tries in 17 appearances in the 2016/17 season for Cardiff Met.
Freddie Steward
Steward played in BUCS Super Rugby during his breakout season in 2019/20, appearing for Loughborough five times. In this season he received an England U20 call-up and featured for Leicester Tigers in Premiership Rugby and the European Challenge Cup. Since then, he has cemented his place in the Tigers 15 jersey and, following an excellent performance against the World Cup winners South Africa in the Autumn, he looks set to do the same for England.
Harry Randall
Randall is one of many scrum halves to have come through the Hartpury system to play professional rugby. Whilst his BUCS Super Rugby involvement was brief, it is hard to argue that any other player has made more of an impact in their time. Randall scored two individual tries late in 2016/17 National Championship Final to see Hartpury beat Exeter 27-24. Followers of Bristol Bears will be familiar with his threat from the ruck, and he looks to bring this into the 2022 Six Nations campaign.
Luke Northmore
Following the path set by fellow Archer Dombrandt, Northmore finds himself in the England squad for the first time after impressing for Harlequins. Northmore played in BUCS Super Rugby for three seasons with Cardiff Met, lighting up the field by scoring 20 tries in 34 appearances, and following the 2018/19 season was awarded the honour of BUCS Super Rugby player of the year.
With England Head Coach Eddie Jones praising Cardiff Met as "a popular breeding ground for test rugby players", we don’t expect Northmore to be the last Archer called up to wear the rose.
Wales
Aaron Wainwright
Wainwright was the first big name player to come off the Cardiff Met production line, in the BUCS Super Rugby era. The back row played 12 times for the Archers during BUCS Super Rugby’s inaugural season before going on to get signed by the Dragons, where he still plays his club rugby. Wainwright has 34 Welsh caps to his name, including 6 at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Christ Tshiunza
Undoubtably the biggest success story of BUCS Super Rugby in the 2021/22 season, so far. Tshiunza made his Wales debut during the Autumn Internationals, featuring against Fiji and Australia, to become the first player to play for a Tier 1 nation and BUCS Super Rugby in the same season. Tshiunza had just 25 days between running out at Headingley Campus, in an away victory over Leeds Beckett, before walking out of the tunnel and singing the national anthem at the Principality Stadium.
Scotland
Sam Skinner
The former Exeter lock has become a stalwart of the Scottish pack in recent times, having picked up 15 caps since his debut in 2018. Skinner came through the Exeter Chiefs academy system, in which playing rugby for Exeter in BUCS Super Rugby supported his development as a player.
Italy
Sebastian Negri
Negri captained Hartpury to a BUCS Super Rugby League and Championship double in 2016/17, losing only two matches all season. The forward made his Azzuri debut in the summer before he played in BUCS Super Rugby’s inaugural season, bringing international pedigree to the league from the off. Since graduating from Hartpury, Negri joined Italian side Benetton Rugby and now plays regularly in the United Rugby Championship. His 36 caps for Italy make him the most decorated BUCS Super Rugby alumni on the international stage.
Stephen Varney
One of the more recent players to rise through the ranks, Varney featured six times for Hartpury in the 2019/20 season balancing this with his Italy U20 and Gloucester Rugby commitments. Varney was selected for his test debut in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup against Scotland, aged 19. Since then, he has featured in nine out of a possible 11 Italian test matches.
We wish the best of luck to our nine players past and present getting ready to represent their country in the 2022 Six Nations Championship.
