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 (7th December) for the first time. The event began in 1872, although it has not been held every year. Since 1921, the game has been played at Twickenham Stadium, London.

Following the 125th match in 2007 (which resulted in a win for Cambridge), Oxford have 52 wins, and Cambridge maintain the lead with 59; 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.

[edit] 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]

[edit] Famous Participants

Many of those who have played in the Varsity Match have gone on to win international honours. These include:

• Stuart Barnes (Oxford).
• Simon Danielli (Oxford).
• David Humphreys (Oxford).
• Rob Andrew (Cambridge).
• Phil de Glanville (Oxford).
• Nick Mallett (Oxford).
• Gareth Rees (Oxford).
• Simon Amor (Cambridge).
• Mike Gibson (Cambridge).
• Gavin Hastings (Cambridge).

Former Wallaby Joe Roff played in the 2006 and 2007 Varsity Matches for Oxford after retiring from professional rugby, captaining the side in 2007. Another former international, All Black Anton Oliver, is scheduled to play in the 2008 Varsity Match; he has been accepted to Oxford to read for a MSc in Biodiversity, Environment and Management starting once he finishes his current professional contract in June 2008.^[2]

[edit] Results

[edit] By total wins