College Wildcards Beat Oxford

Cambridge Colleges 18-3 Oxford Colleges

It is so far one apiece in the annual grudge fest that is Varsity rugby.

As tradition dictates, the series kicked off with a showcase of college rugby talent that pulls together a random crop of players not currently playing within the university squads for a one off match against the Other Place. Their preparation: a handful of training sessions and a selection game against the U21As. Their reward: the experience of being part of one of the oldest sporting rivalries in the world.

Let’s face it, it’s a lot of bigging up for what can be a very average game of rugby, but nevertheless a sizable vocal crowd turned out last Friday afternoon to support the light blues (or more likely just their college mates).

In the warm-ups, the Oxford team looked especially unremarkable, and they started accordingly, botching line-outs and making basic handling errors an U14s team would be ashamed of.

The first 20 minutes was all Cambridge with the forwards taking responsibility as the tempo of the game struggled to reach any peaks. Cambridge kicked to the corner a couple of times, and managed to cross the Oxford line with one of the mauls, but failed to ground the ball.

Just as it seemed the Dark Blues had weathered the storm, a break and handoff by outside centre Matt Hickey broke the deadlock. The conversion was missed, but rather than Cambridge kicking on to score more points, they became more cagey and allowed Oxford to control the final 15 of the first period.

After a failed penalty kick, a tap and go led to a 3 on 1 overlap down the right wing for the dark blues that was horrendously butchered by the outside backs. Further disarray in the light blue defensive line created another three on one on the left wing, but again the clanging hands let our boys off the hook. The half ended with a sketchy 5-0 lead for Cambridge.

With the game still suffering from mistakes, the crowd began to heckle the nearside short, fat Oxford winger Jack Spinner and it obviously got into his head, as five minutes later he took a monstrous handoff to the face, getting some airtime in the process. With a bit of quick ball, the Cambridge backline was looking more dangerous too and a close range penalty was slotted by winger Elliot Bath. The repeated infringements also brought the ref to show the dark blue captain the cheese and he was duly sent to the bin.

After the ensuing kick-off didn’t go 10, a well executed move put in right winger Matt McBride. Bath missed the extras, but the 13-0 lead looked safe. However a marginally late hit by lock Louis Reynolds levelled the playing field with more cheese dished out and the Oxford fly-half kicked an easy goal to reduce the deficit to 10. Undeterred, the light blue backline started to fire and slick hands by McBride and Bath put sub Andy Holland in one on one, which he duly finished off by swatting away another pathetic Oxford tackle attempt.

Cambridge calmly controlled the final 10 minutes of 15-a-side rugby and further entertainment came in the form of an attempted tap and go by an Oxford prop. Upon nearing the defensive line he just dropped the ball, summing up a sorry afternoon for the dark blue side. The final whistle brought an end to their misery, end score being Cambridge Colleges 18 Oxford Colleges 3.

Unfortunately, the U21As could not share in the same success, succumbing 15-21 to the dark blues. The light blues faced a uphill struggle as two breakaway tries from Nick Roope meant that with less than 10 minutes to play Cambridge were 16-10 down. A try by Chris Sharman pulled them within a point, but Sam Dickson saw his conversion agonisingly hit the upright on a blustery day. A late driving maul by Oxford gave them the final say in the game and Cambridge failed to make anything of the final play. The boys will just be hoping they have made selection for the prestigious U21s game which takes place on the morning of Varsity. Until then, it’s the turn of Cambridge LXs club as they look  to restablish Cambridge dominance in the series.

Photos courtesy of Hannis Whittam

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