Colleges Varsity Ends In Defeat

Cambridge Colleges 20-22 Oxford Colleges

When most people think about varsity rugby, images of 30-odd thousand
gathered at Twickenham to see Light and Dark Blue clash abound. Some hardy
souls may even venture out early to catch the Under 21s match. But this is
just the tip of the iceberg. The Colleges XV kicked off the less well-known
series of Varsity Matches with a desperately close 22-20 loss on a chilly
Friday afternoon at Grange Road.

The squad, a mish-mash of seasoned veterans such as Pembroke stalwart Jack
Sunter, former Under 21s players now over the hill, and freshers keen to
make an impression, made a solid start but neither side really dominated.
While the pack were winning plenty of ball and there was some invention in
the backs, Oxford opened the scoring, poor tackling allowing them to cross
the line. Cambridge began to build some pressure, retaining possession for
several phases before letting wing Tom Roberts, impressive all day, score
in the corner.

Unfortunately Oxford’s sizeable ballast in the front row (game for all
shapes and sizes), clearly honed over many hours outside the gym,
eventually told as Cambridge conceded a pushover try. 12-5 down at half
time, the second half saw Cambridge score an excellent try to bring the
game within two points. Having moved the ball through various hands in
midfield, including the unlikely pair of hooker James Dibble, the play was
moved wide and space opened up for Varley to squeeze in at the corner.

Instead of building on this momentum, the Colleges team conceded 2 more
tries. The spirit of the side was shown, however, when scrum half Sam Hunt
made a seemingly impossible covering tackle to deny the pacy Oxford winger
a certain touchdown. The decapitation which very nearly occurred brought
the Grange Road crowd to their feet and, with ten minutes to go, Cambridge
struck back, mauling the Oxford pack back over their own line after some
fine lineout work. This set up an excellent finish, bringing Cambridge
within a converted try. After a frustrating period of play Cambridge again
broke through the Oxford ranks to get within two points with a minute to
go. Conversion missed, the clock firmly stood on the Dark Blue side and the
Colleges XV went down to a narrow defeat.

The Under 21As continue the Varsity rugby season on Tuesday afternoon,
again at Grange Road, taking on the Whippets of Oxford. The LX Club takes
on the Oxford Greyhounds in Oxford on Wednesday.

Colleges XV:
1 R High
2 J Dibble
3 J Rackham
4 M Tovey
5 A Russell
6 B Miller
7 M Hemmings
8 E Thornton (Capt)
9 S Hunt
10 G Bibby
11 M Varley
12 P Evans
13 A Murdoch
14 T Roberts
15 K Pyman
16 S Cook
17 J Sunter
18 D Rustecki
19 F Iron
20 R Nath
21 C Mott
22 K Hagyard
23 A McWhirter