We see a slightly lighter number of games in BUCS Week 4 after two bumper weekends of games across the BUCS landscape. Nonetheless, we have a lot of games that could be really competitive and go either way. We also see a couple of live streams again and we’ve shared the links next to those games for your viewing pleasure.
Premier National
Durham vs Loughborough (Live stream)
Durham is coming off a disappointing loss against the Nottingham Gold last week and will be keen to bounce back if they want to succeed like last season. Loughborough on the other hand are coming off a week 2 victory at home against Leeds Beckett. Loughborough will look to continue their form as they go on the road up to the North East.
Nottingham Gold vs Leeds Beckett
CAF need to reset and go again after a heavy loss at home against the UWE Bullets and may see a visit to their old Prem North rival as the opportunity to do so. Nottingham are hosting their first home game of the season after road victories against UWE and Durham, the Gold will look to make it three victories in a row when they host a wounded Leeds Beckett side and take control of the division.
Premier North
Leeds vs Liverpool
The Gryphons host the Raptors in a battle that sees the high scoring offence of Leeds against the side who are currently bottom of the Premiership North. Leeds will look to carry on their “scoring at will” style against a Liverpool side who have conceded 32 points so far this season whilst only scoring six.
Warwick v Newcastle
Warwick got their first win of the season last week at home to the Nottingham Trent Renegades, they will look to build on their home form at Butts Park as they face a travelling Newcastle side who will be looking for their second win of a season after beating Liverpool in week 1. A big loss to Leeds means they’re currently at 1-1 and they’ll be looking to travel well and go again, this game is shaping up to be a good one in Coventry.
Premier South
Birmingham v Cardiff (Saturday)
Four weeks in and we already see a rematch from Week 1! The Cobras came away with a victory that day, but they fell short against SGS Pride last week. A wounded Lions team won’t get their annual xpLosION event due to off-the-field disciplinary action from UoB Sport, but they’ll be looking to show their claws on home turf in back-to-back fixtures.
Scottish 1A
Aberdeen vs Glasgow
Aberdeen looks to come back after last week's defeat to Heriot-Watt. The Bulls will be looking to move off the bottom of the table, while Glasgow, having a week's break, will look to put the defeat to Edinburgh behind them and go again this weekend away to Aberdeen.
Edinburgh Napier vs Stirling
Napier will look to put their title challenge into second gear as they face fellow undefeated side, Stirling Clansmen. The Clansmen will look to build on their victory last week against Edinburgh to put them in a good place to take the game to the Knights who can have confidence on both sides of the ball after a 48-0 win against Aberdeen.
Heriot-Watt vs Edinburgh
Heriot-Watt got the victory last week against the Bulls and now look at a wounded Mavericks side who are playing for the third week in a row after a win in week two against Glasgow and a loss last week against the Clansmen. The Mavericks who made the playoffs last season need to win this to stay in the hunt of getting there again whilst the Wolverines will be looking to climb the table.
Northern 1A
LJMU vs Manchester
A tale of two low-scoring sides, LJMU lost in week 2 against MMU after a pick 6 which was then converted with 2 points, they face a Tyrants side who have conceded a combined 102 points in two games. It will be a game built on defence with neither side scoring a lot of points a combined 14 points have been scored over three games. If you like a low-scoring defensive heavy game this is the one for you.
Manchester Met vs UCLan
MMU are currently sat joint top with Northumbria, they previously scored 8 points against LJMU, and face a UCLan side who announced themselves in that 50-14 victory over Manchester. MMU will look to build on a strong defensive performance in this week's clash against a high-powered UCLan offence. This is likely to be key game with head-to-head records at play.
Midlands & Yorkshire 1A
Coventry vs Leicester
Coventry faced Nottingham Green last week in a defeat to start their season, whereas Leicester plays their third game in a row and stand with a 1-1 record. The Jets will want to build on last week's low-scoring game and take down the Longhorns who will want to show that they are a real contender in the division.
Nottingham Green vs Sheffield Hallam
The Green and the Warriors are another couple of sides that will have played three weeks in a row, Nottingham having two wins against Coventry and Leicester, and Hallam have a win over Hull and a loss to Leicester. Both teams will be keen to take a win before a break in fixtures and stake their claim to be playoff front runners early on in the season.
South Western 1A
Bournemouth v Bath (Friday)
A treat under the lights in Bournemouth and I’m sure the Bobcats will be looking to put up as many points as they did in Week 2. Bath will be looking for their offence to click after they failed to score against Bristol but will rely on the Defence again who held the Cuda to one score. As the curtain raiser to Week 4, this could be a good clash!
Southampton v Bristol
Bristol will travel down to the South Coast looking to repeat their performance against Bath and hoping the Week 2 Stags turn up. Southampton will be looking more at their Week 3 trip to Swansea and hope they can replicate that performance and come away with another win. This could be another tight tie to call in a division that either gives us close calls or one-siders.
Southern 1A
Brunel v Hertfordshire
Looking back at last weekend, this tie could be a humdinger of a game! Brunel scored 54 and Hertfordshire scored 43...both conceded nothing! If both defences show up again though, we might not see such high scores and it’ll be the most clinical team who comes away with the victory and top spot in the division.
Oxford v Reading
Oxford kick off their season this weekend against a wounded Reading team who conceded 54 last weekend. Oxford took both games last season, but they were both close affairs (16-2 & 14-0) and they’ll be looking for a repeat of that this weekend.
South Eastern 1A
Essex v Kent
Essex play their third game on the trot but with nothing to show for it, they sit 0-2 and a points difference of –46. They host a Kent team that squeezed past UEA in Week 1 who will be looking for some better offensive output to beat the Blades.
UCL v KCL
King’s get their season underway with a trip to Finsbury Park to take on a 1-0 UCL team. The Emperors have proved they belong in Tier 1 with their victory over Essex, but this will be another test against another stalwart in the South East.
North Western 2A
Keele vs Staffordshire (Live stream)
Staffs had an impressive win against the Vikings, whilst Keele lost to Lancaster, the Stallions will build on their momentum and go 2-0 whilst the Crusaders will want to make sure they don't start their season 0-2 and at the bottom of the table.
Lancaster vs Edge Hill
The Bombers look to build on the win last week as they face a Viking side who lost to Staffordshire last weekend. This being one of the smallest divisions in BUCS means that every game matters and a win for Lancaster could put them in a good place for promotion this season whereas a loss for Edge Hill puts them in a worrying position.
North Eastern 2A
York St John vs Sheffield
The Jaguars are playing their first game this week as the Sabres will be looking to build on last week's away victory at Sunderland. The Sabres impressed in a 48-13 win showing their power on both sides of the ball. The Jags will see this as a bounce-back year after a one-win season last year.
Midlands 2A
Derby vs ARU
Derby is another first-game side this week as they host ARU Siege. The Braves made the Northern Final last season where they ended up losing to the Mustangs, the new look Braves, after their new logo, will look to begin the season against an ARU side who sit 0-1 after a loss to Lincoln.
Lincoln vs Cambridge
The two undefeated sides in this division face off in week 4, the Colonials look to go 2-0 and defeat a Cambridge side whose victory over the DMU Lions, puts them joint top. It's a tale of two sides where one is strong on both sides of the ball in the form of Lincoln whereas Cambridge looks to have the ability to fight and win.
Southern 2A
Oxford Brookes v Royal Holloway
Both of these teams take the field for the first time, Royal Holloway for the first time following relegation and OBU after only winning 1 game last year. Both teams will be looking to get back to winning ways and get their 2024/2025 campaign off to a good start.
Sussex v Solent
Two teams with contrasting starts to their season so far, Sussex put 35 on Chichester whereas Solent conceded 43 to Surrey. The Redhawks will be hoping their defence puts on a better performance against a strong Sussex offence that executed on the road last time, this time they’ll have their home support behind them.
South Eastern 2A
Imperial v City St George
City saw their game called short last week and the victory handed to them, Imperial take to the field for the first time this year. Imperial took this fixture last year (34-22) and they’ll be hoping to do the same this year but it sounds like City made a good start to their game last week.
Kingston v QMBL
Following relegation, QMBL got off to a good start in Week 2 by beating Canterbury, similarly, Kingston also won and shut out a Greenwich side who put up a test, but no points. This could be another close clash in this Division which saw teams share a lot of the fixtures last season.
As we’ve said throughout the preview, this weekend could provide some of the closest matchups we’ll see all season. It’ll be interesting for the guys to break them down on our Podcast next week when we reflect on the scores.
As always we'll try and have our fingers on the pulse and share full-time scores as they come in. Please help us by sharing your scores with us on our Instagram and Facebook score threads.
We'll then endeavour to keep our Game Centre fixture list and Standings page up to date and as accurate as we can, to the best of our knowledge.