Cambridge University produced a battling performance in a 27-7 defeat to Oxford University in the R.M. Williams Women’s Varsity Match.
The story of the Light Blues’ display was one of dogged determination and fight as they sought to repel a strong Dark Blues side.
Tackle after tackle went in from Cambridge throughout the game as they put their bodies on the line to defend their territory and deny their opponents the opportunity to cross the gain line.
It would be fascinating to see a record of the tackle counts from each individual player as whether it was out wide in open play or in the tight, there was no quarter given to their rivals as they also secured valuable steals and turnovers.
However, the wave of opposition attacks did eventually yield its rewards as they created overlaps out wide.
The Dark Blues were fast out of the blocks, and pegged Cambridge deep inside their own 22 for much of the first 20 minutes.
However, that was also where the Light Blues were excelling as with every possible route to the try line, there was a Cambridge body in the way.
It was in the 22nd minute that Oxford got their first points on the board, when they exploited an overlap on the left wing for Lilla Berry to receive a pass and cross in the corner.
Eight minutes later, a similar move brought the same outcome. Oxford kept patient in possession and drew in the tackles before going wide for Berry to receive possession again and dart away to dot down in the corner.
Oxford had their third try four minutes before the break when a turnover just inside the Cambridge half was seized upon by Katie Hains, who charged clear on the right wing to touch down and make it 15-0 at half time.
The Light Blues had renewed vigour at the start of the second half, and took the game to their rivals. However, there was a setback when captain Bethan Jones had to leave the pitch through injury.
But that did not knock Cambridge off their stride and pressure inside the 22 led to Oxford’s Sophie Shams being shown a yellow card for a technical offence.
From the resulting penalty, Ali-Mae Brown took a quick tap penalty and passed to Zoe Wright who charged through on the diagonal and powered across the line, taking two defenders with her, for a Cambridge try. Phoebe Jackson then landed a superb conversion to take the Light Blues within eight points.
With a player extra, Cambridge tried to turn the screw on their opponents, but this time it was the Dark Blues digging deep in defence to defend their line.
They got some breathing space in the 52nd minute when a superb running line saw Lucy Hamer pivot from her right foot to her left to beat the last defender and touch down.
The final try of the game came in the 71st minute when some good attacking play got fly-half Chloe-Marie Hawley into a good position to stretch out across the line to ground the ball and then convert her own try to make it 27-7.
It may not have been Cambridge’s day but the young team deserve plenty of credit for their performance and should take lots pride in their display.
Cambridge University: Smith; Embil, Yau, Jackson, Chaoui; McGregor, Glazier; Jones, Warner, Heathfield, Harding, Wright, Millar, Martin, Brown.
Replacements: Haspel (McGregor, 31). Latimer (Harding, 40), Crozier (Martin, 40), Lord (Chaoui, 40), Ubom (Jones, 41), Weatherhogg (Heathfield, 71), Newton-Ingham (Smith, 74)
Chadirchi (Warner, 79).
Oxford University: Hamer; Hains, Burrows, Kennedy, Berry; Hawley, Wilkinson; Onwuka, Szegda, Duckworth, Quig, Stromsted, Stewart-Roberts, Harris-Lovett, Shams.
Replacements: Goodman, Drake, Williams, Hedges, McBride, Rosin, Vincent, Smith.
Scorers: 22min Berry try (0-5), 30 Berry try (0-10), 36 Hains try (0-15), 45 Wright try – Jackson con (7-15),52 Hamer try (7-20), 71 Hawley try – Hawley con (7-27).
