After falling short on the opening weekend of the finals against Norths last year, Sydney Uni have convinced two time premiership winning coach Rob Taylor to return from the UK to coach the Students in 2021. 

Taylor knows exactly how to get the best out of University and inherits a playing squad with a chip on their collective shoulders after a disappointing season last year.

Overview with Rob Taylor: 

“We’re all just excited to play some rugby again. It feels as though this has been a really long, drawn out preseason and I think we’re in to week 12 or 13 now since starting in January,” Taylor said. 

“It’s great to be back. It feels like home so it’s a very comfortable environment to return to and it’s a really special place. We’ve got a really supportive board, coaches, staff, supporters, players. 

“I now properly understand why so many players want to come back and play for Uni when they get a chance. Everyone is really aspirational and dedicated and it’s a great environment to be a part of. 

“It’s quite clear that from a first grade perspective, the guys didn’t achieve what they wanted to achieve but from a club perspective, second grade, first colts and third colts all won their premierships and third grade played in the GF. 

“It was a really positive year and quite similar to 2017 actually, which ended up being a pretty good recipe for success the following year. 

“You’ve got some guys coming out of colts and others who have a full year of grade under their belts and they all really want to play first grade, so it creates some great depth and competition for spots. 

“The reality at Uni is that any season that doesn’t end in a premiership is a disappointing one and that comes back to how much the players put into it. 

“Others might say that our success comes from what the club spends, or whatever other crap they come up with, but it’s really driven by how committed each and every individual at the club is to achieving a collective goal as a wider group.”

2020: Finalist (week one loss to Norths)

Ins: Will Dearden (Wests – Brisbane) 

Outs: James Kane (UK), Oliver Atkins (UK), Tom Robertson (Western Force), Will McDonnell (sabbatical) 

Key areas of improvement:

“It’s not so much about improving from last year as it is about setting and sticking to our 2021 standards. I haven’t spent any significant time looking back and saying we need to fix this or that from last season,” Taylor explained. 

“It’s been more about setting our standards for this season and I guess we’ll find out where that gets us come round one. 

“Obviously we want to play to our natural strengths and that’s our strong, physical conditioning, good set piece, good organisation, players individually completing their roles to a high standard. 

“That’s the baseline at Uni regardless of the results from the previous season.”

Player(s) to watch:

“Declan Moore at hooker has been playing at the club since he was 15 years old. He spent a bit of time at the Rebels last year and as a front rower, he’s only going to get better as he gets older. 

“He’s also played a lot of club rugby now and won a competition back in 2019 so I think he’s in a great position to have a big year. 

“Nick Champion de Crespigny has spent time training with both the Rebels and the Waratahs and is right on the edge. Like most forwards, time is on his side because he’s only going to get better as he gets older and if he keeps grinding and stays in the fight, then he’s going to crack through and play professional rugby. 

“Charlie Hancock came to us from Canberra about four years ago and has come through colts and grade. He’s a front rower that has been grinding away and he’s had a great off season. 

“He’s a multi sport athlete and actually played AFL previously, which not many props can say. He’s also studying a double degree at university and speaks a bunch of languages. He can do it all, a true student rugby player and he’s very popular at the club.

“Eddie King played colts with us but has been studying over in the US for the last few years. With Covid, he’s back in Australia and back playing at Uni, which is great for us. He’s a genuine winger with plenty of talent.”

Bold prediction for the season ahead: 

“There’s not going to be many easy games this year. You look at the likes of Newcastle, who obviously everyone is talking about because they’ve recruited really well. 

Souths under Todd (Louden) will be much better this year in his second year at the club. He’s won Shute Shields before. 

“Easts have also recruited really well. They’ve picked up three guys from Western Sydney who were probably the Two Blues three best players last year. Then they’ve got Rohan (Saifoloi) at No.10. It looks like they’ve really targeted this season. 

“Newcastle will be the big improvers and Souths and Easts will be right up there. 

“For us, our expectations are to win it. We want to play rugby that makes our supporters proud and if we do that, then we’ll be a good chance.”