Oxford claim Varsity treble with win over Cambridge
Five days ago, England put on a superb second half display to beat the All Blacks. Today, Oxford scored three tries in the last half hour to claim their third consecutive Varsity success.
They were dealt a huge blow with captain John Carter leaving the field with a knee injury after 20 minutes but were heroic in defence to hold the Light Blues at bay despite a difficult start.
The Dark Blues gave away too many penalties in the first half to create any momentum and they had to go into the break trailing 16-6.
Their discipline vastly improved in the second half but the turning point was on the hour mark when Sam Egerton, above, switched from full-back to scrum-half.
The Keble College law student was threatening from the back but the came turned upside down once he was in the thick of it.
He scored the first try to spark the comeback and made the decisive break to send Charlie Marr under the posts for the winning try 12 minutes from time.
Helped by their physicality, Cambridge were in control of the first half enjoying most of the possession and territory to wear down a brave Oxford defence and strike late in the half to take a commending lead.
But once the experienced Dark Blues sorted their discipline out, Cambridge couldn’t offer anything else in attack to seal a game they had under control and had to see the Varsity trophy slip away again.
It was all about the Light Blues in the opening exchanges of the game and their early domination was rewarded by three penalties from full-back Rob Stephen to see the Cambridge take a 9-0 lead after 17 minutes.
Following Carter’s exit, centre Cassian Bramham-Law kicked two penalties in five minutes to reduced the deficit to 9-6 but the pressure and domination from Cambridge eventually proved too much for Oxford.
After spending time wearing the left hand side of the defence down, the Cambridge wingers combined well to send Andy Murdoch over in the corner and take the lead to 16-6 at the break following Stephen’s conversion.
Both sides picked up where they left off with Oxford giving a penalty away and Stephen kicking his fifth successful kick of the game to extend the lead.
But it was the last time Cambridge were to get on the board. WIth their back against the wall, the Dark Blues multiplied the phases and they came back into the game when Egerton brushed off three defenders to score and reduce the deficit to eight points with 25 minutes to go.
And the dream of a comeback became reality when stand-in skipper and former Wales Sevens player Jamie Harris went over to bring Oxford within three and set up a thriller.
The momentum was all going for the Dark Blues by then and they eventually took the lead for the first time of the game when Egerton sent Marr under the posts.
Cambridge had a last go at it but couldn’t break the Oxford defensive line and Marr secured the win with a penalty two minutes from time.
For Oxford
Tries: Egerton, Harris, Marr
Conversions: Bramham-Law
Penalties: Bramham-Law 2, Marr
For Cambridge
Tries: Murdoch
Conversions: Stephen
Penalties: Stephen 4
Oxford: Egerton; Lamont, Bramham-Law, Turner, Vallance; Hudson, Commins; Anderson, Gardner, Baker; Law, Rowlands; Waddingham, Harris, Carter (capt.).
Replacements: Wisson, Direen, Rickner, Jones, Marr, Cho, Hughes, MacDonald.
Cambridge: Stephen; Murdoch,Holmes, Bain, Smith; Abraham, Tullie; Briggs; Mallaband, Brown, Brakeley, Annett; Malaney (capt.), Kelly, Steele.
Replacements: Cowan, Marshall, Sanders, Mather, Wolfe, Cook, Cherezov, Hegarty.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Star man: Sam Egerton – Oxford
NICK VERDIER
