Week 3 sees every division feature at least one fixture.

Photo courtesy of George Edwards

We are already into Week 3 of the BUCS season and this weekend we see every division feature across the slate of games, with 23 fixtures in total!

Premier National - 

• Durham vs UoN Gold (live stream)

A rematch of a playoff game last season the Saints look to back up their win last time out against the gold of Nottingham. Nottingham are on the road again after their victorious trip down to Bristol to face the Bullets, Durham on the other hand they’re fresh having not yet played a game this season, this home game will be the first of the season for the Saints as they look to return to the national final again. 

• Leeds Beckett vs UWE 

After last week's home loss against UoN Gold, the UWE Bullets now face their first road journey as they travel to North Leeds and to Leeds Beckett Carnegie. Beckett themselves are coming off a loss to Loughborough Students and are looking to bounce back. This game has been a Premiership Semi-Final in the past two seasons, with UWE taking the win each time but Beckett have always put up a great fight against them. It's set to be a tasty affair in Yorkshire! 

Premier North -  

• Warwick vs NTU 

Warwick are coming off a bye week following their defeat to the Leeds Gryphons in Week 1 which saw the Wolves' Defence concede 40 points. Trent are coming off an away win against the Liverpool Raptors, scoring 24 points themselves. It will be interesting to see if the Warwick defence can stop the Renegades who will look to have the same performance or whether these regular “Midlands” opponents will put on one of their usual cagey affairs. 

Premier South - 

• Cardiff vs SGS  

This fixture has always gone the way of the Bristol-based side as they’ve regularly put up 40+ points on the Cobras. Could this be the year that the gap is closed though? We saw Cardiff tame the Lions in Week 1 and SGS squeeze past Portsmouth in Week 2 so both teams have a win under their belt. Both teams will be looking to gain some early season momentum with games next week too. 

• Portsmouth vs Exeter 

These teams last faced off in 2022 when the Demons came away the victors but it's the Destroyers who have enjoyed Premiership football the last couple of years. Coming off a battling loss against SGS, Portsmouth will be confident going into this game but Exeter are a bit of an unknown entity following their promotion last season.  

Scottish 1A -

• Stirling vs Edinburgh 

Former National Champions, Stirling Clansmen, face the undefeated Edinburgh Mavericks side, The Clansmen will look to return to the Prem this season after being in Tier 1 for the past two years, they will need to beat a strong Edinburgh side who look to win the division after last years disappointment. The Mavericks come off of a 12-0 victory over the Glasgow University Tigers and will look for another shutout against the Clansmen 

• Aberdeen vs Heriot-Watt 

The Bulls hosting the Wolverines doesn't look like the most entertaining game on the surface however last season the Bulls were lucky to not finish bottom of the division after a walkover given to them by the Wolverines was their only win of the season. Heriot-Watt showed bits of quality last year as they only lost to Glasgow by one point and then putting 33 on the Stirling Clansmen, it looks to be a competitive game in the North of Scotland. 

Northern 1A -

• Manchester vs Northumbria 

Manchester are coming off a heavy defeat to the UCLan Rams in which the Tyrants conceded 50 points, they face a newly promoted Northumbria Mustangs team who had an undefeated season in Division 2. After an off-season of recruiting and having retained a lot of their talented players, especially star QB, Aaron Aucoin, and also adding his brother, Seth Aucoin, to their ranks it looks like they're going be pushing for back-to-back promotions! 

Midlands & Yorkshire 1A

• Sheffield Hallam vs Leicester 

Hallam come into this game on the back of a win against the Hull Sharks, scoring 32 and allowing zero the Warriors will come into this game with high hopes as they face a Leicester side who lost to UoN Green. The Longhorns did score a touchdown and two-point conversion which shows they have the potential to produce! 

• Coventry vs UoN Green 

As previously mentioned, UoN Green are coming off a Week 2 victory whilst the Jets are playing their first game of the season. The Jets will be looking for their first win since November 2022, they’ve managed to avoid the drop due to several league realignments. Green will be looking remain undefeated and push the Warriors all the way for the league title. 

Southern 1A 

• Reading vs Brunel 

These two teams served up a couple of tight affairs last year, Brunel coming away the winners on both occasions as they topped the Division.  Reading got off to a good start last weekend despite not coming away with the win, Brunel will be looking to pick up where they left off last year and make another push for the playoffs. 

• Hertfordshire vs Brighton 

Another ex-Premiership team will be looking to hit the ground running and make an attempt to break back into the top tier of BUCS football. Brighton will have something to say about that though as they are on a 9-game unbeaten streak looking back across their promotion season last year. What gives in this one; Herts history or Brighton's buoyancy? 

South Eastern 1A 

• Essex vs UEA  

Again, sorry we missed this off the graphic on the pod/vod, but we’ve made sure we don’t forget you in the preview! Both teams played last weekend but with little production. UEA only put up 8 points, and Essex scored 12, both teams will look to be more ruthless on offense to create scoring opportunities.  

South Western 1A  

• Swansea vs Southampton 

Swansea begin their life back in Tier 1 with a home fixture against a Southampton team who will be licking their wounds after 40-0 loss to Bournemouth last weekend.  

• Bristol vs Bath 

This fixture was a tight encounter both times last season. The first was a 7-7 tie in Bristol and then back in Bath, the Cuda came away with a 13-0 road win. It is likely to be the same again this season as both teams will be looking to take the early season bragging rights. 

North Eastern 2A 

• Sunderland vs Sheffield 

Sheffield get their longest journey of the year out of the way in week 3 of the new season as they travel up the A1(M) to Druid Park where the Spartans look to “welcome” them. This is the first game of this Division after Bradford, who were supposed to host YSJ Jaguars, withdrew from the league. The game sees the favourites for this division in Sheffield face a team that last year finished with a 0-6 record, but that doesn’t tell the whole story as they kept all of their games fairly close.  

North Western 

• Staffordshire vs Edge Hill 

The Stallions and the Viking were very much middle of the pack teams with Staffs having a 2-3 record and Edge Hill 3-2, with this being the smallest division in all of BUCS only having four teams the need for a victory in their opening fixture is key for a promotion season. Last seasons fixture saw the Vikings take a 27-2 home win, the Stallions will look for payback this time around. 

• Keele vs Lancaster 

The Bombers look like early favourites in this division after only being beaten by the now Tier one UCLan Rams, they will need to travel to Keele to face the Crusaders to back up these (our) early claims. The Bombers will look to return to Tier 1 and this season with the division being so small they will look at it as the best opportunity to do so. The Crusaders will look to spoil the Bombers party in this opening matchup  

Midlands 2A

• Anglia Ruskin vs Lincoln 

This game last season was a close one with the Colonials winning 9-14 at ARU, This division has lost big hitters UoN Green and the Colonials who were unsure if they’d have a programme at the begging of this season will look to take their place as a dominant force in this division, but in there way are the ARU Siege who need to bounce back from a 2-3-1 season with a home win against the Colonials. 

• Cambridge vs De Montfort 

The Pythons and the Lions were bottom of this division last year and both sides will look for a good start to the season, so this doesn't happen again. The Leicester-based team look to put last years 0-6 record behind them and come out of the gates quickly to beat the Pythons who's only win last season came against the Lions. This will be a very equal affair in Cambridge. 

Southern 2A 

• Chichester vs Sussex 

Chichester start their season off at home and looking to hold off a strong Sussex team that only lost to promoted Brighton last year. The Saxons will flaunt their new logo for the first time this season but will hope their fortunes don’t change from last year.  

South Eastern 2A 

• City St George vs C4 Chargers  

This fixture went the way of the Wolfpack last season, and the Charges went through a winless season. Unfortunately, Canterbury started off with a narrow loss last week and City will no doubt have had the tape to analyse and come up with a plan to repeat last years victory.  

South Western 2A  

• UWE 2 vs Aberystwyth  - GAME POSTPONED – New date TBC. 

This game has been postponed with the Bullets 2’s citing “kit issues” as the reason. We’re led to believe this will be rescheduled for later in the season, into 2025. 

• Plymouth vs Bath Spa 

Plymouth started off strong last weekend as they toppled UWE 2’s. They also comfortably took care of Bath Spa last season, winning 52-6 on the road. This time, in Plymouth, they’ll be looking to satisfy their home supporters and take the early season lead in the Division ahead of Aberystwyth, who lose ground after their postponement. 

We're all excited to see what this season brings and how teams have changed during the off-season. 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.