The Big Game: Stirling Clansmen Vs Birmingham Lions

We look ahead to the 2016 BUCS Championship Final...

As the Stirling Clansmen and Birmingham Lions stormed to undefeated seasons in the north and south respectively, it appeared increasingly inevitable that these two would be contesting this year’s big final, and here we are, preparing to watch the strongest two university sides in the country lock horns once again.

"We Wanted It To Be Against Stirling And We’re Going To Go All Out Against Them.” - Xavier Ajuwon, Birmingham Lions

As if that’s not tasty enough on its own, the recent history of this fixture adds extra flavour, as the Lions have a massive score to settle. Beaten by the Clan in the 2014 final and the 2015 semi-final, the 2013 champions have been forced to watch from the sidelines as the green machine hijacked their top pedestal and started to run away with it. Starting running back Xavier Ajuwon has fire in his belly.

“I think for a lot of the guys who were at the [semi-final] game last year, it was real heartbreak,” he told us. “It was the first time in a number of years that we’d lost at home, and to lose in the fashion that we did [losing 13-35], it definitely inspired us to want to get up again and get to the final this year. We wanted it to be against Stirling and we’re going to go all out against them.”

Get up again they did. After beating the Imperial Immortals 47-0 in week 1 way back in October, they rolled over an impressive Kingston Cougars side 36-0 at Xplosion, followed by a 32-12 victory over 2015 finalists the Hertfordshire Hurricanes. Xavier says it was away at Bath in week 4 that they really found their rhythm, though.

“When we were losing, that was a real tipping point for us, where we realised that if something was going to happen, it was going to be on us. There were no outside factors that could change things, no outside influence, the coaches had done their job and we were in a situation where we could either lose or win, and it was down to each of us to make a play.” They came back to win, 27-9.

The #5 chuckled, but agreed, at the suggestion that it would be fitting for the Lions to be the ones who stop Stirling’s march to a third title. “For a lot of the guys, this is their last year, and the last opportunity to win a championship. Stirling have been difficult over the last couple of years, and it’s going to be a big team effort to get the W,” he added.

Our players has started to use gmail email sign in. They can contact in themselves with Google Mail. Beyond the match their fans send emails to each other.

“The mood is good. We’re quite relaxed; we know we’ve got to stay loose, we can’t be too tense. The feeling is, because of what we’ve been doing this year, it really is all about us. We haven’t looked outside of ourselves - obviously we see the detractors, negative talk, but we don’t mind it, we know that at the end of the day it’s all on us. We’ll have a good time, we’re all very close as a unit, and that’s the great thing about football, when you have a team that you’re so close with, and you spend a lot of time together. The mood is good, but we know that when it’s game time, it’s business time.”

“It’s Never A Circle, It’s Always A Process." - Victor Peredo, Stirling Clansmen

North of the border, the Clansmen have been watching Birmingham’s journey to the final with interest.

“The way I see it is that they are one of the strongest programs in the last 10 years, and we are one of the strongest programs in the last 10 years,” said head coach Victor Peredo, who took over from the legendary Rob Orr last summer. “It’s never a circle, it’s always a process. We both have very different teams from last year, but every time we play them it’s a tough game.

“The last time we played against Birmingham, it started very quickly in our favour, and then they started fighting back and by half-time it was a very close game. What I remember the most is that in the second half we came out we everything. They are always a tough team to play, always.”

Stirling somewhat stumbled into this season, scraping past Derby by a single point, but their stunning second-half comeback at Durham in week 3 kick-started their campaign into life. (Read more about Stirling’s season in our extended interview with Victor Peredo.)

In what was expected to be a tight pair of semi-final games between four strong sides, Stirling and Birmingham both put up large scores, 42-13 against Hertfordshire and 58-22 against Durham respectively. Birmingham’s Ajuwon is confident in the message this sends – namely, that the Lions are ‘very serious’ about winning the title – while Peredo believes that the team with the better defence will have the upper hand in what threatens to be a shootout. What’s clear is that Sunday’s big showcase will be one to remember.

Header photo: Clanfan Stirling Clansmen Facebook

Other photos: Bec Edwards Photography