The Varsity Match

This article is about the rugby union fixture. For the rugby league fixture, see The Varsity League Match. For the ice hockey fixture, see Ice Hockey Varsity Match. For the cricket fixture, see The University Match (cricket).

The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. By tradition, the match is held on the second Tuesday of December. In 2005, however, this changed, and the match was on Tuesday 6 December. In 2007, it was held on a Thursday (7 December) for the first time. The most recent match was held on 8 December 2011, with Oxford winning 28-10. The event began in 1872, with interruptions only for the two World Wars. Since 1921, the game has been played at Twickenham Stadium, London.

Following the 129th match in 2011, Oxford have 55 wins, and Cambridge maintain the lead with 60; 14 games have ended in draws. Varsity matches between Oxford and Cambridge are also arranged in various other sports. For example, the first recorded water polo match in history was played between Oxford and Cambridge in 1891.

History

The history of The Varsity Match extends back to early 1872. It was a year after the first ever rugby international (England v Scotland). Both Cambridge and Oxford sent officials to meet and arrange a match between each other. At The Parks, Oxford, they played a 20 a-side version of the game (as opposed to today's 15 a-side games; the teams would be set to 15 a-side by 1875). Oxford won the inaugural meeting. In that first match, Oxford wore dark blue jerseys (the same as today, though at some stages they wore white), however, Cambridge played in pink, changing to their blue and white in 1876.

The second Varsity Match was played at Parker's Piece in Cambridge, but it was from then on moved to London - played at venues such as The Oval (Kennington), Richardson's Field and Rectory Field (Blackheath), Queen's Club (Kensington - 1887 to 1920). The 1878 and 1879 matches were postponed due to fog. In 1919, the players were apparently invisible due to fog. In 1921 the match was moved to the Rugby Football Union's famous home ground, Twickenham. The Varsity Match was not played during wartime. The Centenary match in 1981 was played at Twickenham with a layer of snow covering the pitch.

Referees

There was not a referee until the 1881 match, when Mr H.H.Taylor officiated. The record number of appearances is held by former RFU secretary, Rowland Hill, along with Welshman Gwynne Walters both with seven games. Other notable International referees who have controlled this fixture are, Englishmen G.H.Harnett (6) Cyril Gadney (6) and H.L. Ashmore (5) along with Welshmen Albert Freethy (6) and Clive Norling (5). Up until the start of the professional era, one of the unique aspects of the Varsity game was that the referee was not appointed by the RFU but agreed upon and invited by the two captains. Sadly this tradition has stopped along with that of the previous year's captains returning to act as touch judges. However, now there are professional referees and touch judges, and remarkably there is also a television match official.

In 2001 the MMC Trophy replaced the Bowring Bowl, established in 1976, as the prize. 2005 was the last year Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) sponsored the match.

Notable Participants

Many of those who have played in the Varsity Match have gone on to win international honours; a number of others played in the Match after earning international honours. These include:

•  Paul Ackford (Lock, Cambridge).
•  Simon Amor (Scrum Half, Cambridge).
•  Rob Andrew (Fly Half, Cambridge).
•  Stuart Barnes (Fly Half, Oxford).
•  Phil de Glanville (Centre, Oxford).
•  Mark Denney (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Simon Halliday (Centre, Oxford).
•  Alastair Hignell (Fullback, Oxford).
•  Damian Hopley (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Martin Purdy (Lock, Cambridge).
•  Chris Sheasby (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Oliver Tomaszczyk (Prop, Oxford).
•  Victor Ubogu (Prop, Oxford).
•  Tony Underwood (Wing, Cambridge).
•  Ben Woods (Flanker, Cambridge).
•  David Humphreys (Fly Half, Oxford).
•  Tyrone Howe (Wing, Oxford)
•  Mike Gibson (Centre, Cambridge).
•  David Quinlan (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Joe Ansbro (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Simon Danielli (Wing, Oxford).
•  Gavin Hastings (Fullback, Cambridge).
•  Simon Holmes (Openside flanker, Cambridge).
•  Stuart Moffat (Fullback, Cambridge).
•  Rob Wainwright (Flanker, Cambridge).
•  Gareth Davies (Fly Half, Oxford).
•  Phil Davies (Lock, Cambridge).
•  Marco Rivaro (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Kensuke Iwabuchi (Cambridge).
•  Toshiyuki Hayashi (Oxford).
•  Troy Coker (Number 8, Oxford).
•  Rob Egerton (Wing, Oxford).
•  Joe Roff (Wing, Oxford).
•  Dan Vickerman (Lock, Cambridge).
•  David Kirk (Halfback, Oxford).
•  Mark Ranby (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Anton Oliver (Hooker, Oxford).
•  Nick Mallett (Oxford).
•  Anton van Zyl (Lock, Oxford).
•  Gareth Rees (Fly Half, Oxford).
•  Kevin Tkachuk (Prop, Oxford).
•  Andrew Bibby (Winger, Oxford).
•  Stan McKeen (Flanker, Oxford).
•  Gary Hein (Wing, Oxford).
•  Don James (Prop, Oxford).
•  Will Johnson (Prop, Oxford).
•  Ray Lehner (Prop, Oxford).
•  Doug Rowe (Scrumhalf, Cambridge).
•  Adam Russell (Lock, Oxford).
•  Kurt Shuman (Fullback, Oxford).

1987 Rugby World Cup winning All Blacks captain David Kirk played in the 1987 and 1988 Varsity Matches after ending his international career to take up a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford. Former Wallaby Joe Roff played in the 2006 and 2007 Varsity Matches for Oxford after retiring from professional rugby, captaining the side in 2007. Five former or current internationals played in the 2008 Varsity Match. The most notable were retired All Black hooker Anton Oliver for Oxford and former Wallaby lock Dan Vickerman for Cambridge, with Oxford also fielding current Canada flanker Stan McKeen and Cambridge fielding former All Black centre Mark Ranby and former USA scrum-half Doug Rowe. Vickerman captained Cambridge in the 2009 Match, in which McKeen and Rowe also played.

Results

1872: Oxford 1873: Cambridge 1873: Draw 1874: Draw 1875: Oxford 1876: Cambridge 1877: Oxford 1879: Draw 1880: Cambridge 1880: Draw 1881: Oxford 1882: Oxford 1883: Oxford 1884: Oxford 1885: Cambridge 1886: Cambridge 1887: Cambridge 1888: Cambridge 1889: Oxford 1890: Draw 1891: Cambridge 1892: Draw 1893: Oxford 1894: Draw 1895: Cambridge 1896: Oxford 1897: Oxford 1898: Cambridge 1899: Cambridge 1900: Oxford 1901: Oxford 1902: Draw

1903: Oxford 1904: Cambridge 1905: Cambridge 1906: Oxford 1907: Oxford 1908: Draw 1909: Oxford 1910: Oxford 1911: Oxford 1912: Cambridge 1913: Cambridge 1914-18: Not held 1919: Cambridge 1920: Oxford 1921: Oxford 1922: Cambridge 1923: Oxford 1924: Oxford 1925: Cambridge 1926: Cambridge 1927: Cambridge 1928: Cambridge 1929: Oxford 1930: Draw 1931: Oxford 1932: Oxford 1933: Oxford 1934: Cambridge 1935: Draw 1936: Cambridge 1937: Oxford 1938: Cambridge

1939-44: Not held 1945: Cambridge 1946: Oxford 1947: Cambridge 1948: Oxford 1949: Oxford 1950: Oxford 1951: Oxford 1952: Cambridge 1953: Draw 1954: Cambridge 1955: Oxford 1956: Cambridge 1957: Oxford 1958: Cambridge 1959: Oxford 1960: Cambridge 1961: Cambridge 1962: Cambridge 1963: Cambridge 1964: Oxford 1965: Draw 1966: Oxford 1967: Cambridge 1968: Cambridge 1969: Oxford 1970: Oxford 1971: Oxford 1972: Cambridge 1973: Cambridge 1974: Cambridge 1975: Cambridge

1976: Cambridge 1977: Oxford 1978: Cambridge 1979: Oxford 1980: Cambridge 1981: Cambridge 1982: Cambridge 1983: Cambridge 1984: Cambridge 1985: Oxford 1986: Oxford 1987: Cambridge 1988: Oxford 1989: Cambridge 1990: Oxford 1991: Cambridge 1992: Cambridge 1993: Oxford 1994: Cambridge 1995: Cambridge 1996: Cambridge 1997: Cambridge 1998: Cambridge 1999: Oxford 2000: Oxford 2001: Oxford 2002: Cambridge 2003: Draw 2004: Oxford 2005: Cambridge 2006: Cambridge 2007: Cambridge

2008: Oxford 2009: Cambridge 2010: Oxford 2011: Oxford

By total wins

Total matches Cambridge victories Oxford victories Draws 130 61 55 14 See also Cambridge University RUFC Oxford University RFC Rugby union in England The Game (Harvard-Yale) Varsity match Oxbridge rivalry References External links The Varsity Match website CURUFC OURFC