Cambridge University celebrate victory in the Women's Varsity Match. Picture: Chris Fell.
Cambridge University were victorious in an enthralling Women’s Varsity Match beating Oxford University 10-5 at Saracens’ StoneX Stadium.
It was as compelling a game as you could wish to see, with gripping play by both teams right until the very end.
The difference between the two sides was Ella Heathfield’s try and five points from the boot of Izzy Boothroyd, but that only tells a small fraction of the story.
The defence from both teams was immense - each time you thought someone was about to break through and add to their team’s tally, a last-ditch tackle thwarted the hopes.
All the points arrived in the first half.
Boothroyd kicked Cambridge ahead in the 16th minute through a penalty.
There was then a spell of great driving play for the line from the forwards, with the persistence and patience reaping its rewards as Ella Heathfield crashed across the line. Boothroyd added the conversion.
Four minutes later, in the 28th minute, some smart thinking from Oxford scrum-half Alex Wilkinson saw her take a quick tap penalty and dart through on a diagonal line to touch down to reduce the arrears to 10-5.
What was to follow in the second half, though, was almost breath-taking.
At the heart of the play was huge defence, be it in open play, at the breakdown or at the set piece.
Cambridge had a dominant spell in the Oxford 22 for what felt like the first 20 minutes of the second period, but the Dark Blues threw their bodies on the line to keep them at bay.
Lauren Webb was sin-binned for Oxford after 47 minutes, but the Light Blues were unable to make their numerical advantage count.
The pendulum then swung the other way as Alice Middleton, whose tackling had been huge all game, was shown a yellow card in the 65th minute.
Cambridge were rising to the challenge of being on the backfoot, and there was a great turnover on the line just as it seemed Oxford may touch down.
The scrum had grown in strength for the Light Blues as the game wore on, and it was crucial in getting some solid front-foot ball when under pressure
Hetta Friend made a massive hit to stop a flowing and impressive backs move from Oxford in the 76th minute, while Cambridge had to sit out the closing stages a player light as Emily Bell, whose tackle count seemed never-ending, was sin-binned.
However, a last-ditch tackle deep in the 22 by Ellie O'Keeffe in the final play proved to be the winning moment as the jackal led to the Light Blues earning a penalty, which skipper Emilia Bushrod tapped and kicked to touch to signal the final whistle and mass celebrations from Cambridge.
Cambridge University: Middleton; Twigg, Boothroyd, Vass, O’Keeffe; Mason, Bushrod; Jones, Latimer, Heathfield, Friend, Bryant, Scowen, Smith, Bell.
Replacements: Grabauskaite, Gomezgil Yaspik, Worth, Hardwick, Boxall, Smith, Yau, O’Keeffe.
Oxford University: Jones; Berry, Gibson, Shams, Phillips; Farmer, Wilkinson; Levenson, Nott, Wilkins, Duckworth, Guy, Riches, Watson, Webb.
Replacements: Szegda, Jay, Brown, Stromsted, Close-Smith, Thomas, Quig, Harris-Lovett.
Scorers: 16min Boothroyd pen (3-0), 24 Heathfield try - Boothroyd con (10-0), 28 Wilkinson try (10-5).