The game
On 21 April 2012 at South Leeds Stadium, Hertfordshire beat their old rivals the Birmingham Lions 37–19 to win a fifth national title, the most of any British university team at the time. Both sides arrived unbeaten. The Lions had reached the previous three finals, winning two, and had knocked Hertfordshire out in the semi-finals in each of the last two seasons. To get there, the Hurricanes had beaten Cardiff 63–0 in the quarter-final and Loughborough 24–13 in the semi-final, both at home.
Birmingham started better. Hertfordshire chose to receive but went nowhere on their first drive. The Lions then worked the ball downfield, with Dan Conroy keeping the drive alive on fourth down, and Jonny Glover threw the opening touchdown. The extra point missed, leaving it 6–0. The second quarter belonged to Hertfordshire, who led 18–13 at half-time.
The turning point came straight after the restart. Hertfordshire forced a fumble on the kick-off and scored from the turnover, and Birmingham never got back on terms. Quarterback Joe Thompson was named MVP of the final and also took the league MVP award, the fourth Hurricane to be the league's most valuable player. Linebacker Dom Gould played with his arm in a cast.
Jim Messenger's team finished a perfect season as champions. The two sides met again in the final a year later.
