| Varsity matches: Oxford v Cambridge |
|---|
| Men’s match |
| Oxford (0) 0 |
| Cambridge (5) 15 |
| Tries: Jemphrey 2, Bell |
Cambridge University sealed a dominant victory over Oxford in the 138th men’s Varsity match to complete a double after the women also won at Twickenham.
Fergus Jemphrey scored in each half for Cambridge, who had former Australia captain James Horwill in their side.
In torrential rain Oxford barely threatened, with both sets of players cramping up on a heavy pitch.
Scrum-half Chris Bell darted through a gap to go over and round off a much-deserved triumph for the Light Blues.
The conditions caused plenty of handling errors but Charlie Watson went close to an opening try for Cambridge before Varsity debutant Jemphrey slid over after a line-break and skilful offload from Joey Gatus.
Horwill and ex-South Africa lock Flip van der Merwe – who will both sit an exam on Friday morning – brought a combined 99 international caps to Cambridge’s second row and the Light Blues never looked in any real danger as their opponents chased the game.
Jemphrey used pace, power and strength to beat off a tackle and force his way over for a second before Bell capped an assured display with an opportunistic try late on.
The victory was Cambridge’s 64th in the men’s contest, seeing them edge further clear of Oxford’s 60 wins.
Late solo try sees Light Blues retain crown
| Varsity matches: Oxford v Cambridge |
|---|
| Women’s match |
| Oxford (5) 5 |
| Try: Abele |
| Cambridge (3) 8 |
| Try: Grant Pen: Vandersluis |
Earlier on Thursday Cambridge’s women won their third Varsity match in a row thanks to Coreen Grant’s fine 77th-minute solo try.
The centre, who represents Saracens at club level, used her pace to make the most of missed Oxford tackles and get the decisive score at Twickenham.
It saw the Light Blues repeat their 8-5 victory from last year, though it had looked unlikely as they trailed for much of the game to a close-range try from Jessica Abele – who last year was a replacement for Cambridge.
Oxford still lead the all-time standings, winning 19 women’s Varsity matches to Cambridge’s 14.
Oxford men: Stoller; David (capt), Greenhalgh, Jackson, Stileman; Humberstone, Tressider; Friend, Henry, Parker, Dix, Pozniak, Jones, Miller, Messum.
Replacements: Wright, Oswal, Vaughan, Warr, Watson, Dalton, Haddock/Hackett, Martin.
Cambridge men: Gatus; Lovelace, Triniman, Watson, Jemphrey; Phillips, Bell; MacCallum, Huppatz, Harborne, Van der Merwe, Horwill, Walton, McMahon, Leonard (capt).
Replacements: Schusman, Collins, Cook, Beckett, Smart, Smeaton, Gliksen, Russell.
Referee: JP Doyle.
Oxford women: Hurton; Holmes, D’Cruz, Jenkins, Potts; Metcalfe-Jones, Johnson; Ellender (capt), Bidgood, Abele, Collis, Schmidt, Clark, Haste, Cooper.
Replacements: James, Opara, Haywood, Arik, Cohen, Nunn, Carter, Hindson.
Cambridge women: Vandersluis; Samuel, Grant, Nicholls, Halcrow; Clark, Marks; Bleehan, Pierce, Nunez-Mulder, Scheeman, Gregory, J Shuttleworth, F Shuttleworth (capt), Scowen.
Replacements: Manser, Elgar, Hicks, Heemskerk, Prowling, Atherton, McLoughlin, Patterson.
Referee: Laura Pettingale.
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