The Varsity Match

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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 10 December 2009, with Cambridge winning 31–27. 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 127th match in 2009, Oxford have 53 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.^[1]

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. There was not a referee until the 1885 match, and for a number of years, the touch judges were actually the previous year's captains. However, now they are professional touch judges, and there is also a television match official.^[1]

In 2001 the MMC Trophy replaced the Bowring Bowl, established in 1976, as the prize.^[2][3] 2005 was the last year Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) sponsored the match.^[4]

Famous 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:^[5]

•  Simon Halliday (Centre, Oxford).
•  Stuart Barnes (Fly Half, Oxford).
•  Phil de Glanville (Centre, Oxford).
•  Victor Ubogu (Prop, Oxford).
•  Paul Ackford (Lock, Cambridge).
•  Rob Andrew (Fly Half, Cambridge).
•  Damian Hopley (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Chris Sheasby (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Tony Underwood (Wing, Cambridge).
•  Simon Amor (Scrum Half, Cambridge).
•  David Humphreys (Fly Half, Oxford).
•  Mike Gibson (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Gavin Hastings (Fullback, Cambridge).
•  Simon Holmes (Openside flanker, Cambridge).
•  Stuart Moffat (Fullback, Cambridge).
•  Simon Danielli (Wing, Oxford).
•  Marco Rivaro (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Kensuke Iwabuchi (Cambridge).
•  Joe Roff (Wing, Oxford).
•  Dan Vickerman (Lock, Cambridge).
•  David Kirk (Halfback, Oxford).
•  Mark Ranby (Centre, Cambridge).
•  Anton Oliver (Hooker, Oxford).
•  Nick Mallett (Oxford).
•  Gareth Rees (Fly Half, Oxford).
•  Kevin Tkachuk (Prop, Oxford).
•  Stan McKeen (Flanker, 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.^[5] Former Wallaby Joe Roff played in the 2006 and 2007 Varsity Matches for Oxford after retiring from professional rugby,^[5] 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^[6] 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.^[7] Vickerman captained Cambridge in the 2009 Match, in which McKeen and Rowe also played.^[8]

Results

By total wins