Stepping out onto the field carrying the weight of a historic rivalry is one thing; winning the battle is another. Yet that is exactly what Oxford’s Blues did last Saturday.
As the 141st Varsity match commenced, the stakes held more than just quantitative significance, but pride, tradition, and most importantly, bragging rights. A meeting of sunshine and rain, of young and old, of past and present, culminated in a staunch victory for both the Women’s and Men’s teams.
Oxford’s Women’s team defended a four-year streak of titles, winning by a dominant margin of 52-8. Captain Chloe-Marie Hawley elicited audible awe from the crowd as she led the Dark Blues to victory with a kick of razor-sharp precision. Despite their rocky start, Oxford’s women recovered diligently to command the field, displaying a mixture of possession and determination in the first fifteen minutes which culminated in the game’s first try. Hawley, foreshadowing an afternoon of calculated conversions, brought the score up to 7-0. As the crowd proclaimed: we had not yet seen Cambridge score a try.
DPhils, undergrads or internationals: whoever was on the pitch, regardless of their stage in the academic ranks, age or background, was this day united in one goal. Backed by history, alumni, and friends and family from far and wide, Oxford knew they had one job – shoe the tabs – and shoe the tabs they did.
A score of 19-0 at half-time had Cambridge’s prospects looking bleaker than the grey skies enclosing Stone X stadium. Cambridge was to find no silver lining in the second half – only the boisterous glee of navy-lined blazers. Sophie Shams scored Oxford’s fourth try, followed by a trusty conversion from Hawley to make the score 26-0. In response, a rapid solo-run from Cambridge’s Esther Makourin gained Cambridge their first try of the game. The scoreboard read 26-5. Nevertheless, as the sun peeked through the clouds, it was clear the Dark Blues would succeed in foiling the tabs’ bright hopes. Oxford wasted not a moment to react; the second half was simply a consolidation of defeat. Spurred on by a Dark Blue war cry, the beating drums could only remind Cambridge that time was running out. A final score of 37-25 would seal Oxford’s victory for yet another year.
The crowd was on their feet, beer cascading, as the whole team pelted towards the centre, supporting even their injured players towards the celebrations. Having also clinched Player of the Match, Hawley rejoiced as her teammates hoisted her into the air, their glossy trophy reflecting the now-streaming sunlight as well as the jubilant crowd.
Victory may have appeared easy for the Women’s Team, but as the horns blasted, the Men’s 3pm kick-off at StoneX would prove just how much perseverance is demanded of these players throughout their 80 minutes on the pitch.
The Men’s Varsity Match was an edge-of-the seat affair. Oxford’s early lead of 5-0 was established by Will Roddy, powering towards the corner in a fast-paced start. Cambridge won a penalty soon after to equalise, courtesy of an aggressive Oxford scrum. Even scores would be a recurrent theme of the match: Cambridge’s Danny Collins reinforced a try from James Wyse to establish a Cambridge lead of 7-5, before a penalty taken by Oxford’s George Bland levelled the field to 10-10.
No one was left wondering whether these walls could talk: the stadium stands were brimming with navy and turquoise blue. Alumni and supporters alike had a lot to say from the sidelines, with one heckling his own side from the stands. His uninhibited accusation of uselessness proved a feat of tough love, however, prompting a solo-dash from Oxford’s number 11, Wolfe Morn, in a narrowly-missed try.
Soon enough, Oxford retook the lead. A try just before half time from Harry Pratt pushed the score back up to 15-10. Half-time respite did not hinder Roddy’s efforts; the forward proved his indispensability with a hat-trick soon after the second horn had blown, galvanising Oxford into a lead of 20-10. A sudden shift in weather brought no change in fortune for the tabs. As the clouds parted, however, Harry Bridgewater pulled through, converting Josh Hallett’s run to the line. The score read 27-15.
Hungry for more, Roddy claimed his fourth try of the afternoon. Bridgewater provided the conversion once again, stepping up to the plate for a score of 37-18. Cambridge, credit where it’s due, refused to quit even in the throes of the game’s last quarter, with their persistent efforts edging them up the scoreboard. But Oxford’s defence stood firm, holding them up at the halfway line, and 37-25 is exactly where the numbers remained as Oxford notched a sweep of the Varsity Matches. Penning his name in the history books, Roddy was crowned Player of the Match for a formidable individual performance.
Tears of victory attest to the sport’s poetic brutality: the battering and bruising of the game is not divorced from its deep sentimentality. The heavens split, casting a spring afternoon’s surprising sunlight over the rainbow seats of StoneX stadium. Pent-up pre-Varsity nerves purged themselves amidst the celebrations as players confronted their own place in history: some lamented the loss of team members in years to come, while others mourned their final dalliance for the Dark Blues. An uncertain future is, however, what keeps us coming back, year after year, to watch this historic rivalry unfold once more.
The Varsity Matches of 2026 belong to OURFC.
