Always a popular and well attended event, Rutherford returns to its traditional pre-Christmas slot for the first time since 2019. The Open Eights event attracts all the usual suspects on the Northern scene from both university and club programmes.
Durham University BC
A resurgent programme over the last year and a half, Durham will be looking to assert themselves as a name to watch again this season. Having made the semi-final of the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley last summer, they have made a positive start this season.
In a fixture against Newcastle, Edinburgh and Tyne last weekend, they took a dominant win in a 4km rate capped time trial and performed well in the side by side racing that followed. As a squad with depth and ever-increasing confidence, Durham will be one to watch not just this weekend but beyond.
Newcastle University BC
On home water, Newcastle are one of the big names on the UK student scene. They have a track record of producing quick crews and their focus tends to be on the bigger boats on the men’s side so it will be interesting to see how they go here.
However, with a young squad last year, they struggled to compete at the sharp end of student events, with both of their Temple Cup crews making a Tuesday exit at Henley last year (albeit with the top PA crew making the semi-final). Rumour has it that Newcastle have two crews of a similar speed so far this year, which shows good depth, but a lack of top end speed, so it will be interesting to see how they fare here, after a tough time in the previously mentioned fixture.
University of London BC
Making the trip up from the Tideway, UL will look to assert themselves for this season. After being arguably the closest domestic threat to Oxford Brookes last year, they will want to step on again this year to close that gap further. So far this season, UL boated a large number of crews at Fours Head where they produced a strong set of results, and this should bode well for the transition into the eights for this event.
Edinburgh University BC
Another ever presents on the student circuit, Edinburgh come to this event in good form. They fared well at the fixture between the northern crews last week and will want to make a step on here to lay the foundations for the year ahead. Edinburgh’s crews tend to be very well drilled and always have very strong fundamental skillsets, helped by the work they do in small boats, and racing in fours at Inverness Head already this season, which should bode well over what can be a challenging course at points.
Tyne ARC
The only club crew to feature in this field, Tyne are one of the most recognised names on the club scene up North. They benefit from students who don’t row under their respective university programmes, as well as those who have completed their studies, so they produce gritty crews who thrive off the competition generated on the Newburn stretch. With nothing to lose here, these guys are sure to race hard to lay down their marker for the club scene this year.
Prediction
Given that all bar one of these clubs were involved in that fixture last week, there is a degree of understanding as to where these clubs are at in terms of their speed at this point in the season. The unknown factor here is the UL contingent who are bound to be quick. I feel that Durham will take the win here, followed by UL with Edinburgh, Newcastle and Tyne taking third, fourth and fifth respectively.
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