News
Oxford 4 CUARLFC 20
The 29th P Cubed Varsity Match kicked off at the stoop in front of an enthusiastic crowd and in perfect playing conditions for an open and expansive game.Cambridge went into the game with injury and illness worries , Will Brewster having dislocated a finger on tuesday night and hooker George Sykes going down with one of the many bugs doing the rounds in the colleges and spending the previous 2 days in bed and was patently not fully fit as he boarded the coach to london.The opening stanza was not for the faint hearted as big hits were coming in from both sets of forwards forcing errors and it took a couple of sets to get the players settled into the rhythm of the game .Good pressure exerted by cambridge saw them camped out for a couple of sets but a fumble allowed O’Driscoll to hare off up field and from the next play O’Connor took off on a lateral left to right run to find Batstone who with some space to operate in rounded Max Stechman for the first score of the game.The lions have a knowledge that they could come back in any circumstances thrown at them and after some good pressure and patient play , a short range try from skipper Matt Bray who bust through his opposite number George Smibert , later converted by James Hunt giving the lions a lead that they were to try and hold on for the remainder of the game.
The remainder of the half was and arm wrestle with the plan to work over the three big props , Boyle , Whitehead and Bradley who were all tipping the scales at 17+ stone each and it would be patience that would hold the key for the game but cambridge were hell bent on giving them some cheap ball and inviting oxford to aim their big men at the light blue defensive line.A penalty right in front of the posts after The Shearmanator had run at MacFarlane and isolated him into giving up an easy two points.Cambridge were starting to get their nose through the line in the collisions and the retreat of the oxford line wasn’t as good as the start of the game but the lions needed to show more composure.
The half time instructions were more composure and control from the pivots at the top of the field with better results at the end of sets.The downfield kicks needed to apply more pressure to the oxford back three and turn them around.The main thrust of the break was to remind players of their jobs and to show a lot more composure on the field and control the occasion.For the team to be leading after playing their worst 40 mins of the season was a positive as they just had to improve a little in the second half to make sure they got the right result.
The second half started with far better control at the ruck by cambridge and the wrestle was now being won on almost every collision with and without the ball but some lapses in defence meant that line breaks by McCormick and Forster with better composure could have meant trouble for the lions but they re shaped themselves quickly and defended well to force the errors.A period of play meant that neither side could control the game for long enough to build pressure due to poor carry skills and passes that were never on but with a very astute short kicking game from Wingate-Saul forcing errors from O’Connor and Btastone on a number of occasions meant that there would now be an opportunity for cambridge to make oxford tackle for the full compliment of 6 tackles on their own line and with 9 minutes remaining , a right side shift to Wingate - Saul exposed some weak defence on the oxford left edge and Sonenfeld bust through to send Quintana , who was tracking his run on the inside and planted the ball to the right hand side of the posts.Converted by James Hunt gave a buffer scoreline of two converted tries in the last 8 minutes and the lions would now have to play smart hit ups and a kick chase.More pressure exterted on a now flagging oxford side forced an error and gave Wingate-Saul another chance to run at the left edge of oxford and with plenty of push runners going flat at the line it was good pass selection to hit Aaron Sonenfeld who drew the winger to give Joe Pitt-Rashid a simple try to wrap up the result.
Final Score , Oxford 4 CUARLFC 20
The P Cubed Man of the Match was James Shearman , who was powered by raw emotion for the whole 80 mins and was a constant threat to oxford with and without the ball.James had dedicated the game to his dad and it was certainly an inspired effort by The Shearmanator.
John Evans was relieved at the end , “The standards the lads have set themselves this year weren’t met in the first half as they were getting too carried away with the occasion and putting on plays that weren’t consistent with what they had produced all year.It can’t be underestimated what playing in this game , at a big stadium , vociferous crowd and television cameras in your face can do to players.We tried to address it at half time and i think we got back to the game plan a little better.We knew we had to work over the middle men and take their threat out of the equation to allow us to maintain the field position.I said at half time that we would need to play for the 80 mins to win and to have patience and with two tries in the last 9 minutes of the game showed great understanding of how to win.We had scored most of our points in the final quarters of games and it is testament to the players’ ability to stay in the game and wait for opportunity.Oxford had great performers in McCormick , Bradley and the dangerous O’Connor who were a constant threat to us but they ran out of fuel at the end and we took advantage.“
The players can now enjoy the easter break but the planning for next season starts next week and recruitment and the 2010 summer tour to Jamaica are high on the list for players and staff alike.
The club presentation night is at the Rivercafe in cambridge on sunday 8th of march and a report and photos will follow next week.