University National Touch Series 2021/22 – season round-up

University Touch Manager Jack Harris casts his eye over what has been a memorable and record-breaking 2021/22 season.

Season Champions

Bath Hawks

Bath knew what they had to do to be crowned Champions at the finals and went about it with poise and precision. Bath have consistently proven themselves, winning the Men’s competition at the start of the year, then R2 South and R5. Their rivalry with Exeter continues to grow and it is only thanks to one another that they continue to perform at the highest level. This was the fourth time that Bath have won the University NTS

Best Newcomer Team

Leeds Belgrave (2s)

Leeds as a club have made huge progress, especially considering the extended gap in competition due to the pandemic. Leeds only entered the University NTS for the first time in 2019, but they have come a long way in a very short time.

Their first team consistently proved themselves at the highest level in the Cup (and were close contenders for Most Improved Team), but to also bring along a second team for the first time has shown that Touch can become a firm fixture in a University sport setting quickly.

Leeds Belgrave (2s) have come extremely close on a number of occasions to winning the Bowl Competition, finishing second twice at both national comps. We look forward to seeing where they go next season

Most Improved Team

Nottingham Trent

Nottingham Trent is another club which is very much up and coming, having only been established for three years. They have also consolidated their place as Cup contenders, beating Loughborough in the 3rd/4th play off at R5. Finishing 19th in the 2019/20 season, they have come on leaps and bounds in two years and finished fourth in this season’s standings. A notable mention to Surrey Stags (1s), who also climbed a whopping 13 places to finish 11^th

Most Nominated MVPs 

Awarded for most nominations of MVP from opposing teams through the competition

Female: Lilly Williams (Bristol) The Bristol captain, an excellent player with huge potential

Male: Charlie Steed (Surrey) The Surrey captain, who has used his experience from the National Touch Series last summer to take his team up a level this season

Players of the Season

Voted for by England Touch High Performance Coaches and Staff

Female: Emily Simon (Exeter), described as a rock to the Exeter team who rarely makes mistakes and can set up play excellently. She has grown as a player over the season and will be taking on the role of High Performance Director of Touch at Exeter

Male: Josh Henderson (Bath), a hugely exciting player who can create something out of nothing. He runs hard and had teams struggling to react to his unpredictable style, but he is a talisman to Bath and the team have evidently learnt a huge amount from him

Top Scorers

Female: Niamh Quigley (Bath) (17 tries) Niamh had been sat in second/third throughout the season but a great display in R5 saw her clinch the top spot when it mattered

Male: Lloyd Prytherch (Bristol) (38 tries) This was a tale of two brothers, who throughout the season stood out as great try scorers, namely Steffan Prytherch (Cardiff, older brother) and Lloyd Prytherch (Bristol). No other players could touch them (no pun). Lloyd set a record for most tries scored in one round at R3 with 12 to set a commanding lead over Steffan. Then Steffan goes and re-breaks the record at R5 with 13 tries. In the end there was only one try in it but the trophy eventually went to Lloyd

Team Spirit Award

Bristol Vipers

This award is voted for by teams, who vote for the team they think embraces the values of Touch the most.

Many teams voted for Bristol for their sportsmanship on the pitch and friendly nature off it. The ETA could not agree more with this nomination as Bristol have been a pleasure to work with throughout the season. They are evidently a very tight knit group of individuals who have never given up, they rightly deserved a place in the Cup at R5, eventually beating Cardiff for fifth place.