Light Blue Through and Through

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Wednesday 22 November 2017 at Grange Road
Result	Cambridge University 53 Steele-Bodger XV 22
Competition	Traditional warm-up fixture for the Varsity Match in December – the 70th anniversary of the fixture.
Hopstats	Not a new ground – been here several times both during and since my own student days.  I’ve watched rugby union at seven different venues and have no detailed records from my twenties. Young readers take note!
Context
Micky Steele-Bodger CBE played for Cambridge University and England in the 1940s before his career was ended early by injury. Since then he has served rugby union with distinction as administrator and leader, but in today’s context there was great celebration of the fact that this is the 70th time he has put together an opposing team for the university side.  It is a fixture that has its roots and traditions in the amateur era.  Oxford University may well have their own routines and traditions as the December showdown approaches, but this blog takes the view that a tiny atoll in the South Pacific, just jutting through the surface of the ocean as the result of a long-dormant volcano and maybe with a single palm tree for comic effect, should be plenty of room for all the people who need to care.  Light Blue is the colour all the way on here. At a personal level, teaching commitments have almost always prevented me from joining a band of young-at-heart relics of a bygone age for whom this fixture has been at the heart of a regular reunion event.  The game itself is flanked by beer, curry, breakfasts (note plural), conversation, reminiscences and beer, and what happens at the SB gathering, stays etc etc.  I am pleased to have been here, and I hope to be back on solids very soon.  Gentlemen, thank you.  You know who you are.
In one sentence
A feast of free-flowing rugby union in keeping with the fixture’s heritage, a whopping win for the Light Blues with maybe some concern about the number of points conceded down the right flank.
So what?
Hopefully no injury worries before the Varsity Match at Twickenham on Thursday 7th December.  CURFC lead the series 35-33 with two draws.
Match Report
Many photographs were taken before kickoff with Mr Steele-Bodger himself at the centre, and regular rugby fans will recognise several familiar faces including Scotland’s Gavin Hastings, the university captain in 1989. Once the match started, the Light Blues built up a healthy lead with three tries.  The first was a burst from Jake Hennessey through the middle of the defensive line and gave an easy conversion for Mike Phillips too.  The second came from Hennessey’s chip kick from centre to flying winger Henry King which was then eventually grounded nearer the posts, before an easy conversion was missed.  Then a breakaway try from deep, a long run by Chris Bell finished with an unselfish pass to Tyler Hammond, was itself converted by Phillips to make the score 19-0. The Steele-Bodgers got on the scoreboard when a grubber kick bounced off the defender and Coventry’s Kwaku Asiedu scored from the right wing.  The try was converted by Lawrence Rayner of Ampthill. The students removed any doubts of a shock result by scoring two more tries before half-time.  The first looked a rather dubious decision – many spectators in our corner felt that Rory Triniman had lost control of the ball in a tackle as he tried to make the conversion position easier.  The kick was missed anyway.  Then Matthew Watson scored under the posts.  A Phillips conversion gave us the half-time score of 31-7. An unconverted try for Archie Russell from a left wing move increased the lead before Asiedu intervened again.  He ran from half-way down the right and there was no catching him.  This was unconverted so the scoreboard at this point read 36-12. The university then worked another good loop move before scoring in the left corner again through King’s second try of the game, and then Hammond had his second too after a break through the middle from a central scrum.  The second of these was converted by Phillips for a score of 48-12. Bodgers worked a kick-to-wing move of their own to score an unconverted try by Tom Hughes on the right wing, before the Light Blues went through the direct central route again to cross the half-century mark with a try from James Elms.  The supposedly easy conversion was thwarted by the post.  So, 53-17 before a mazy run by the Bodgers’ full-back, Cambridge’s Joe Green, set up an unconverted score in the corner for James Beaufils of Randwick District.  Final score 53-22. It had been clear for some time that international referee Wayne Barnes was determined to referee a game without a penalty, and both sides bought into that ambition.  To do so meant (in my opinion) ignoring one blatantly high tackle, but in the end the game was completed, as ever, in good sporting spirit.  The university side looks in good shape and there was plenty of fluency and fluidity.  For the spectators, today’s event is as much social as sporting, and most of the crowd here will re-gather at Twickenham in two weeks.
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Pre-Match Entertainment
For the record, our group unexpectedly ended up as Team Clueless in the preceding night’s Pub Quiz at the splendid Champion of the Thames.  After a faltering start with American Artists and a botched attempt at the bonus question, we rediscovered our competitive streak and secured a runners-up position which will fly proud and high on our combined list of academic achievements. After a couple of breakfasts, there was time to stroll.  It has dawned on me in later years that I had my eyes turned downwards too often during my student days.  The rooftops themselves are magnificent entertainment in their own right.  Four years at Selwyn College (next door to the ground) played a huge part in shaping my own life and career, and it looks as if the city might have still have a say in my health and well-being in years to come. Here’s a taste of the city’s atmosphere and architecture, snapped during a morning walk.  Some of the rest of the weekend is a bit blurry, but it certainly involved breakfasts. Queens' College Trinity College Isaac Newton,Trinity College Clare College King's College Chapel 23 West Road, my home for Summer 1977 and site of my finest moments in croquet ;) Cripps Court, Selwyn College, home from Oct 1975 - June 1979 Old Court, Selwyn College Selwyn College Chapel
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Decisions are usually last-minute at this time of the year because of weather considerations.  If all is meteorologically favourable, and my rehab is complete, then the Saturday shortlist comprises the Step 3 grounds at Merthyr Town, Whitby Town and Athersley Recreation (Shaw Lane’s landlords).  Otherwise, something more local that can confirm that it is on in time for me to travel.