Light Blue is the Colour

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Thursday 7 December 2017 at Twickenham
Result	Oxford University 10 Cambridge University 20
Competition	The 136th Varsity Match
Hopstats	Third time I have been work-free on a Thursday to get to this fixture.  Not a new stadium for the list as I have also been here for Schools Finals days and several internationals.
Context
Results-wise, Oxford have had the better season, but Cambridge arrive in good shape after their warm-up victory at Grange Road over the Steele-Bodger XV (see recent blogpost).  Weather forecast for the afternoon was thankfully better than the horrendous morning but conditions will be tricky for amateur players.  My friends and I noted these conditions from the warmth of breakfast at Bill’s in Richmond followed by several pints, lunch and more pints at the Prince’s Head on Richmond Green.
In one sentence
Closer than the score suggests, but a deserved win for the Light Blues.
So what?
Cambridge lead 63-59 with 14 draws since the fixture was first played in 1872.
Match Report
This is a retrospective I-was-there post.  It was great to see Selwyn’s Buchan Richardson starting at Number 8 and even better when he touched the ball down in the corner in the early minutes.  However, first impressions were confirmed when the video referee (or whatever they are called) ruled it out.  This was going to happen three times to Cambridge as light blue followers wondered whether missed opportunities would be back for haunting purposes later on. Mediocre snap captures the ball and Richardson's hand but fails to prove that he was tackled into touch The first half was dour in difficult conditions.  Each side spent long periods in turn encamped in their defensive 22, with only the occasional penalty or other error giving a chance to break out.  Both defences held well, but with Oxford looking faster and more fluent in the passing game. The deadlock was broken by Cambridge scrum-half and man-of-the-match Chris Bell.  The pack pushed Oxford back at one of their own scrums and Bell went through for the try.  The relatively easy conversion was missed in Twickenham’s notorious conditions.  Oxford captain Conor Kearns landed a penalty, and Cambridge missed one. The invisible referee with the TV set also ruled out two more scores for Cambridge before the half-time whistle came with the score at 3-5 and the result very much in the balance.  To be fair, the decisions looked correct.  Cambridge captain Charlie Amesbury was held without grounding the ball, and Jake Hennessey had received a forward pass.  It looked as if this game would come down to impact subs and fitness in the last quarter. Mike Phillips restored a five-point margin with a Cambridge penalty before a long delay for an injury to forward Andrew Hunter.  Maybe that enforced break meant that there were fewer errors due to fatigue in the closing stages.  Oxford made their substitutions earlier.  Cambridge missed a good chance when the last pass of a cross-field move went astray before Archie Russell scored in the corner to give some breathing space at 3-13. Oxford came back strongly and Will Wilson finally breached the Cambridge line for a try, converted by Kearns and so the margin was back to only 3pts at 10-13.  It was going to be a tough 15 minutes. Fortunately it was Cambridge’s turn to be on the attack, and their pack delivered the winning score with a drive from a line-out, getting the ball to full-back Amesbury to go over the line.  Phillips converted to give a ten-point lead and there was insufficient time for Oxford to close that gap, especially now some clean-shirted fit-and-ready light blue subs were in the defensive pack. This was an effective rather than an effusive performance by Cambridge, but this is a big occasion in the student rugby calendar and the result matters more than the style.  If I am not plucked back into science teaching by then, I’ll be back next year.
Ground Pix
The lower tier is used and the atmosphere is not unlike Non-League finals day at Wembley.
Match Pix
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Nothing definite in the diary, and decisions at this time of year are often last-minute because of the weather.