Streakers, Pints of Piss, and non-stop chanting

All the Varsity build up on The Tab

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It’s not as old as ‘the boat race’, and there aren’t as many toffs, but in a floodlit Headingley stadium, on Wednesday 3rd October, the only intra-university rivalry that matters in Leeds will be coming to a close.

The Varsity finale and the curtain-raiser to the rest of the season will see Leeds Uni take on Met for the 10th time, and neither side will want to let their respective universities down.

Jack Bell leads the Uni team out on Wednesday evening hoping to repeat last year’s victory. With two internationals in Pierce Phillips (English Students) and William Magie (USA U20) the Uni team stands every chance.

Will Magie bossed a tight game from Fly-half last year, and the Gryphons will be hoping for a repeat performance from the American.

Last year’s squad (the lads)

Although Leeds Met have never lost the overall Varsity event, the rugby is often a very tight contest. Both teams have won two of the last four encounters.

2011: Uni 14 – 10 Met
2010: Uni 15 – 27 Met
2009: Uni 26 – 7 Met
2008: Uni 17 – 28 Met

With Streakers, Pints of Piss, and non-stop chanting, sometimes the Rugby can take a backseat. The electric atmosphere is what marks this Varsity event out from its cultured Oxbridge cousin.

getting rowdy

Former Leeds University student and Tae Kwando expert Tim Jameson described attending the event as “like being a 15 year old girl spending a night in R Kelly’s boudoir.”

With this atmosphere and two newly assembled squads the result on Wednesday is impossible to predict. It seems whoever can handle the pressure of thousands of screaming students best will come out on top.