The Oxford University Rugby Football Club (Oxford University RFC or OURFC) is the

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

club of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...

History

Men's team

The University of Oxford RFC was founded in 1869, fifteen months before the creation of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

. The first Varsity Match was played in February 1872 in Oxford at '

The Parks The Oxford University Parks, commonly referred to locally as the University Parks, or just The Parks, is a large parkland area slightly northeast of the city centre in Oxford, England. The park is bounded to the east by the River Cherwell, thoug ...

', the following year the return game was played in Cambridge on Parker's Piece. In 1874 it was decided that the game be played on a neutral ground. Oxford, like rivals Cambridge, have supplied hundreds of players to national teams, and was key in spreading the sport of rugby throughout Britain as past students brought the game back to their home counties. The very first international player to be capped whilst at Oxford was

Cecil Boyle Cecil William Boyle (16 March 1853 – 5 April 1900) was an English sportsman who played international rugby union for England and first-class cricket. He was killed in action during the Second Boer War. Educated at Clifton College and Universi ...

, who represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in 1873, one season before Cambridge University. In 1951 OURFC became the first Western rugby team to tour

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. OURFC currently has 3 Men's teams: 1st XV Blues, 2nd XV Greyhounds and 3rd XV Whippets. All three teams play Varsity matches against their respective Cambridge opponents. Additionally, there is also a Men's U20s squad which contest their own Varsity Match alongside the Women's 2nd XV.

Major Stanley's Match

Major R. V. Stanley was an Oxford local who took a hearty interest in the development of OURFC, becoming its first representative on the RFU Committee 1903–27. The first recorded Stanley's Match took place in 1919, after the 1914 match was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I. An invitational squad, similar to the Barbarians, the Major Stanley's XV historically drew in big name players such as Thomas Voyce and William Wavell Wakefield. Major Stanley's Match is an annual fixture played in preparation of the Varsity Match and recent Stanley's XVs have included

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd) is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly afte ...

. In 2019, the centenary year of the first Major Stanley's fixture, the Women's Blues faced the first ever Major Stanley's Women's XV.

Women's Team

Oxford University WRFC was founded in 1988 and has been playing Cambridge University WRUFC annually since. The first women's Varsity was won by Cambridge; Oxford currently have 20 Varsity victories to Cambridge's 13. Notable players include

Sue Day Susan Day (born 29 October 1972) is an English female rugby union footballer who played fullback for London Wasps Ladies and for England. Career Day made her debut versus in 1997. She was selected for the 2006 Six Nations Squad. She appea ...

(St John's), who has won 59 England caps. As of May 2015, Oxford University RFC and Oxford University WRFC have officially merged into one University RFC. 2015 also marked the first year that the women's Varsity Match was held at Twickenham on the same day as the men's game. OURFC Women's 1st XV compete in BUCS Premiership South.

Honours

* Hawick Sevens ** Champions (1): 1925 Oxford University Greyhounds: *

Oxfordshire RFU County Cup The Oxfordshire RFU County Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organised by the Oxfordshire Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced during the 1970–71 season, with the inaugural winners being Oxford. It is the most ...

winners: 1976 Oxford University Women's Blues: * BUCS Vase Champions 2017 * BUCS Vase Runners Up 2019

Notable former players

Oxford University RFC has fielded over 300 international rugby players, many of whom were first Capped during their time playing for the club. *

Gareth Baber Gareth Baber (born 23 May 1972) is a Welsh former rugby player and now a rugby union coach. He is best known for coaching and leading the Fiji sevens team to win their second gold medal in rugby sevens at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He coached Fij ...

* J.M. Bannerman * Stuart Barnes * Onllwyn Brace *

Ian Buckett Ian Martin Buckett (born 23 December 1967 near Holywell in Flintshire) is a former international rugby union front row forward who played for Swansea and London Welsh and played county rugby for North Wales. He was a championship winning player ...

* Raymond Burse * -

Ernest Cheston Ernest Cheston was a rugby union international who represented England from 1873 to 1876. Early life Ernest Cheston was born on 24 October 1848 in Hackney the sixth son of Chester Cheston of Clapton. He attended Haileybury and Imperial Servic ...

Troy Coker Troy Coker (born 30 May 1965 in Brisbane) is a former Australian international rugby union player. He played as a number 8 and was capped 27 times for Australia between 1987 and 1997. He was a member of the winning Australian squad at the 1991 ...

* Jack Crabbie * Philip Crowe *

Simon Danielli Simon Charles Jonathan Danielli (born 8 September 1979 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish former rugby union footballer who played on the wing for Ulster and Scotland. Early life Danielli who is of Italian descent, was educated at Cheltenham College ...

* Gareth Davies * Dan Drysdale * Bob Egerton * David Evans * Walter Rice Evans *

Ewen Fergusson Sir Ewen Alastair John Fergusson (28 October 1932 – 20 April 2017) was a British diplomat and international rugby union player. The son of Sir Ewen MacGregor Field Fergusson, formerly Chairman and Managing Director of the Straits Tra ...

* Charles Fleming *

Gwyn Francis David Gwyn Francis (2 February 1896 – 7 May 1987) was a Welsh international rugby union player, who played for the Welsh national side twice (in 1919 and 1924). Life Francis was educated at Jesus College, Oxford, where he was part of the co ...

* Billy Geen *

Phil de Glanville Philip Ranulph de Glanville (born 1 October 1968 in Loughborough) is a former English rugby union player who played at centre for Bath and England. Rugby career de Glanville played for Durham University while an Economics and Politics stude ...

Thomas Gubb Thomas Witheridge Gubb (23 March 1908 – 19 November 1978) was a South African businessman and an early twentieth century rugby union international who is known as one of the "lost lions" due to his participation on the 1927 British Lions t ...

* Simon Halliday * Toshiyuki Hayashi *

Gary Hein Gary Mel Hein (born March 26, 1965 in Los Angeles) is a former American rugby union player. He played as a wing. He is grandson of the late New York Giants player and Pro Football Hall of Famer Mel Hein and son of the pole vaulter Mel Hein Jr., wh ...

* David Humphreys *

Vivian Jenkins Vivian Gordon James "Viv" Jenkins (2 November 1911 – 5 January 2004) was a Welsh rugby union player who, having taught Classics and Games at Dover College, went on to have a successful career as a sports journalist. He won 14 caps for Wales an ...

* David Kirk *

Pat MacLachlan Pat MacLachlan (born 16 March 1928 in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia now Harare, Zimbabwe) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. In his rugby career he played as a Scrum half. Rugby union career Amateur career MacLachlan play ...

Nick Mallett Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team, in 1984. He also coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000 and was the ...

Niall Malone Niall Gareth Malone (born 30 April 1971 in Leeds, England) is a former rugby union player who played out-half for Leicester, Worcester, Ulster and Ireland. Having worked as an elite player development officer with Ulster's academy and as skills c ...

Stan McKeen Stan McKeen (born April 9, 1982, in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian rugby union player. Rugby career McKeen began his rugby career at St. George's School in Vancouver and eventually found himself playing for the UBC Old Boys rugby c ...

* Prince

Alexander Sergeevich Obolensky Prince Alexander Sergeevich Obolensky KStJ (russian: Александр Серге́евич Оболенский; 17 February 1916 – 29 March 1940) was a Rurikid prince of Russian origin who became a naturalised Briton, having spent most of h ...

* Katsuhiko Oku *

Anton Oliver Anton David Oliver (born 9 September 1975) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Previously, he played as a hooker for Marlborough (one of the predecessors to today's Tasman side) and Otago in the National Provincial Championship and ...

* Ronald Poulton-Palmer *

Conway Rees John Conway Rees (13 January 1870 – 30 August 1932) was a Welsh international rugby union player. Life Rees was born in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales. He was educated at Llandovery College and Jesus College, Oxford (graduating in 1894) ...

* Gareth Rees
( IRB Hall of Fame inductee) * Joe Roff *

Alan Rotherham Alan Rotherham (31 July 1862 – 30 August 1898) was a rugby union international who represented England from 1882 to 1887. He also captained his country. Rotherham is best known for his part in revolutionising half-back play in rugby union, ...

( IRB Hall of Fame inductee) * Richard Sharp *

Ken Spence Ken Spence (21 November 1929 – 29 January 1989) was a Scottish international rugby union player. He played as a Scrum-half. Rugby union career Amateur career Spence played for London Scottish. In 1949, during a heatwave, in a London Sco ...

* Brian Smith * John Strand-Jones * Bruce Thomson * Kevin Tkachuk *

Victor Ubogu Victor Eriakpo Ubogu (born 8 September 1964) is a former Bath and England rugby union player. Arriving in the UK from Lagos, Nigeria in 1977, he attended West Buckland School in Devon he received the school's top award, the Fortescue Medal. ...

* Mike Walker *

Derek Wyatt Derek Murray Wyatt (born 4 December 1949) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sittingbourne and Sheppey from 1997 to 2010, having previously been a councillor in the London Borough of Haringey (1994–95) where ...

* Norman Kennedy * Charles Berry *

Nick Civetta Nick Civetta (born November 5, 1989) is an American professional rugby player currently playing for Rugby United New York (RUNY) of Major League Rugby. He also plays internationally for the United States rugby team. He plays as a second row. ...

References

External links

*
The Varsity Match
{{University of Oxford, state=collapsed English rugby union teams

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

1869 establishments in England Rugby clubs established in 1869 University and college rugby union clubs in England Sport at the University of Oxford Rugby union in Oxfordshire