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MET POLICE UP FOR THE CUP

MET POLICE UP FOR THE CUP

Neil SINCLAIR18 May 2022 - 11:26
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Met take on South Wales in PSUK Cup Final

The Met Police reignite old rivalries when they take on South Wales Police in the final of the PSUK Cup at Stourbridge RFC on Wednesday afternoon.
In distant history, before the advent of leagues, the Met Police and South Wales Police did not take part in the annual British Police knock-out cup. Both Clubs boasted a fixture list that was the envy of many "ordinary" club sides, including matches against Saracens, Leicester and Harlequins for the London cops and Cardiff, Llanelli and Swansea for their Welsh colleagues. Of course in those days, the Police teams also called on Internationals such as Paul Ackford and Bleddyn Bowen.
As rugby took on a more "professional" aura with the creation of National Leagues, so Police rugby began a steady decline. The demands of a League season combined with the increasing scrutiny of the Police, and leadership that didn't see the value of sport as part of policing's core values, or indeed a recruiting tool, led to an irreversible decline in the numbers and quality of police rugby players. Many players diverted their loyalty to clubs which would pay them, or offer other perks for their commitment.
Consequently, the MPRFC and SWPRFC found themselves struggling to maintain the quality of fixture list and hegemony within the Police Rugby family. Furthermore, the reorganisation of policing in Scotland and Northern Ireland gave rise to two "new" police rugby powerhouses. The old Police cup, itself going through a metamorphosis as several "visionaries" tried to re-establish sport's relevance to policing, was now a viable challenge for the somewhat defenestrated rugby monoliths.
With the PSUK Cup becoming a regular midweek tournament, the old guard recognised its worth for maintaining a proper police identity, as opposed to the Saturday teams which had force majeure welcomed non-police personnel to their ranks. The anticipated domination was not quite as easy as anticipated. The West Midlands Police, Scotland and Northern Ireland became regular and immensely difficult barriers, other Forces had their moment in the sun too. And then came the hiatus of the preceding two seasons, where we were all losers, one way or another.
And so we come to this year's final. A clash between the two biggest names in Police rugby, a meeting on neutral ground to carry the title of "UK's Finest"
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