The Varsity Match

The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. The event began in 1872 with the first men's match, with interruptions only for the two World Wars. Since 1921, the game has been played at Twickenham Stadium, London. It is normally played in early December.

Following the 140th match in 2022, Oxford have 62 wins, and Cambridge maintain the lead with 64; 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.

The women's rugby Varsity Match was first played in 1988 and has taken place at Twickenham on the same day as the men's game since 2015. Cambridge won the 2019 match, repeating their 8–5 victory of 2018.

History

The history of The Varsity Match extends back to early 1872. It was a year after the first ever rugby international (Scotland v England). 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 in 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 in 1873 was played at Parker's Piece in Cambridge, but since then it has always been played in London. The Oval in Kennington staged seven matches, three games were played at Richardson's Field in Blackheath and another Blackheath venue, Rectory Field, hosted four games before Queen's Club in Kensington became the regular venue from 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 official Varsity Match was not played during wartime although a series of matches were played during the Second World War, resulting in nine wins for Cambridge, two wins for Oxford and one draw. All these games were played either at Oxford or Cambridge. The hundredth match in 1981 was played at Twickenham with a three to four-inch layer of snow covering the pitch; it had snowed overnight and the snow could not be removed in time for the game.

In 2013 Oxford's Sam Egerton was sent off for an off-the-ball incident and became the first player to be dismissed in the history of the match. Oxford's 43–6 win in 2014 was the biggest victory in the history of the fixture and gave them a fifth successive victory for the first time ever. Cambridge have recorded five wins in a row on three separate occasions, 1972–76, 1980–84 and 1994–98. Oxford's win in the 2015 match was their sixth successive win in the fixture, a record for either side.

In 2021, the event was rebranded at The Varsity Matches in order to reflect the continued integration of the women's fixture.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 139th match was postponed to March 2021. It was then further postponed to 4 July 2021 and relocated to Welford Road Stadium, Leicester. The 140th match was played in April 2022 at Twickenham.

Referees

There was not a referee until the 1881 match, when Mr H. H. Taylor officiated. Prior to this each game had two umpires, one from each university. 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. This tradition ended after the 1997–98 season, along with that of the previous year's captains returning to act as touch judges (a continuation of the original custom of each university appointing an umpire), when the RFU Referees' committee decided that touch judges could only be qualified officials and that the RFU should appoint the referee. Now there is also a television match official.

Sponsors

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.
Subsequent sponsors have been Lehman Brothers from 2006 to 2007, Nomura Group from 2008 to 2011 and Pol Roger and Glenfarclas distillery since 2012. The clothing manufacturer Jack Wills sponsored the clothing until 2014 Investment bank Jefferies Group were announced as the title sponsor for The Varsity Matches 2022.

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).
*  Charlie Amesbury (Fullback, Cambridge).
*  Simon Amor (Scrum Half, Cambridge).
*  Rob Andrew (Fly Half, Cambridge).
*   Stuart Barnes (Fly Half, Oxford).
*  Phil de Glanville (Centre, Oxford).
*   Huw Davies (Fly half, Cambridge).
*   Phil Davies (Centre, Cambridge).
*   Mark Denney (Centre, Cambridge).
*  Simon Halliday (Centre, Oxford).
*  Alastair Hignell (Fullback, Cambridge).
*  Damian Hopley (Centre, Cambridge).
*  Martin Purdy (Lock, Cambridge).
*   Ben Ransom (Fullback, Oxford).
*   Marcus Rose (Full back, Cambridge)
*  Chris Sheasby (Number 8, Cambridge).
*   Oliver Tomaszczyk (Prop, Oxford).
*  Victor Ubogu (Prop, Oxford).
*  Tony Underwood (Wing, Cambridge).
*   Dom Waldouck (Centre, Oxford).
*  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).
*  Gerald Davies (Wing, Cambridge).
*  Onllwyn Brace (Fly Half, Oxford).
*   Eddie Butler (Number 8, Cambridge).
*   Gareth Davies (Fly Half, Oxford).
*  Jamie Roberts (Centre, Cambridge).
*   Marco Rivaro (Centre, Cambridge).
*   Kensuke Iwabuchi (Cambridge).
*  Toshiyuki Hayashi (Oxford).
*   Thomas Baxter (Fly Half-1958, Flanker-1959, Oxford).
*   Roger Davis (Oxford).
*  James Horwill (Lock, Cambridge).
*  Tom Lawton Snr (Fly Half, Oxford).
*  Brendon Nasser (Number 8, Oxford).
*   Bill Ross (Hooker, Oxford).
*  Ainslie Sheil (Oxford).
*   Brian Smith (Fly Half, Oxford).
*  Troy Coker (Number 8, Oxford).
*  Bob Egerton (Wing, Oxford).
*  Joe Roff (Wing, Oxford).
*   Dan Vickerman (Lock, Cambridge).
*   Ian Williams (Wing, Oxford).
*   Chris Laidlaw (Halfback, Oxford).
*  David Kirk (Halfback, Oxford).
*  Mark Ranby (Centre, Cambridge).
*   Anton Oliver (Hooker, Oxford).
*   Mark Robinson (Centre, Cambridge).
*  Tommy Bedford (Oxford)
*  Nick Mallett (Oxford)
*   Nick Koster (Flanker, Cambridge)
*  Flip van der Merwe (Lock, Cambridge)
*   Anton van Zyl (Lock, Oxford).
*   Mathew Guinness-King (Centre, Cambridge).
*   Gareth Rees (Fly Half, Oxford).
*  Kevin Tkachuk

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases