Varsity Matches 2024

[Burgs]

Both the Women's (1955 WST) and the Men's (2255 WST) will be telecast on Stan tonight, with the Western Force fielding arguably their strongest Front Row combination this weekend for The Dark Blues. 1. Tom Robertson 2. Harry Scoble.
Flyhalf Archie King is also an Australian having played Shute Shield for Easts amd briefly for the Rebels.

Varsity Matches Preview

https://www.ourfc.org/post/varsity-m...where-to-watch

Saturday 2nd March sees the The Women’s 36th Varsity Match, kicking off at 12pm. The Men’s 141st Varsity Match will kick off at 3pm. Both of these matches are held at StoneX Stadium.

Women's Match Preview:

Full team sheet https://www.instagram.com/ourfc_blues/

Women's Captain Sophie Shams has named a relatively settled 23 with a vast armoury of talent and experience to take on the light blue of Cambridge. Here is the starting Forward pack, Back line and match day substitutes.

The front row combination of Kit Levenson, Zed Nott and Amber Wilkins bring a wealth of experience to the match with all three of them having earned their Blues last year. This trio will certainly be relishing the set piece and physical battle. In the 'engine room' returning Blues Tolu Duckworth and Zoe Guy bring go forward when carrying the ball and explosive dominance in defence. At number 6 Hannah Riches will be in her fourth year with the club having being awarded a winning Blue last year off the bench and has been on fine form this season. At open-side, Caity Watson will be looking to showcase her talent across numerous sports and is a real threat to the opposition ball. At Number 8, last year's victorious captain Lauren Webb will be looking to sign off in style as she earns her third and final Blue for OURFC.

In the backs, England U20 number 9 Alex Wilkinson will showcase her fine skill set and bring her Premiership experience to help control the game. At Fly Half, Stella Farmer will put her footballing skills on display with a strong array of kicks to choose from, making her a real threat in attack. In the centres, captain Sophie Shams returns to her former Premiership home, having been part of the Saracens squad in the Premiership. She is partnered by Grace Gibson who returns having unfortunately missed out on Blues selection last year due to injury. The back three sees the electric trio of Lily-Mae Phillips, Lilla Berry and Emma Jones. Lily-Mae will bring elusive running and boundless energy to proceedings. Lilla is a real talent in many sports and she will be looking to showcase her athletic talent on both sides of the ball. Full Back, Emma Jones is no stranger to the Varsity Match having worn the Light Blue of Cambridge previously.

The bench is packed with talent. The front row trio of Michele Szegda, Anna Jay and Olivia Brown are set to make a huge impact with both Olivia and Anna having learnt the game at Oxford. Michele will be looking to earn her first Blue having been part of the US National Championship team at West Point. Returning Blue Clara Strømsted will bring experience to the Second-Row. George Close-Smith covers the back row having been a standout performer in last years Panthers Varsity match. The back replacements of Beth Thomas, Madison Quig and Amelie Harris-Lovett are set to influence the game from the bench having all previously played other sports to high levels.

Men's Match Preview:

Full team sheet https://www.instagram.com/ourfc_blues/

Men's Captain Jack Glover names a strong Men's Blues team to take on Cambridge. In the Forward pack, 31 cap Wallaby Tom Robertson forms an incredibly strong front row partnering his fellow Australian and Western Force Hooker in Harry Scoble. Next to the two Australians, is returning Blue, Mike Fankah who impressed with his strong scrummaging in last year's Varsity Match. In the second-row the physically imposing duo of Seth Dockery and former Exeter University 1st XV player Matt Cook partner each other adding much ballast to the pack. In the Back row there is a real balance of both experience and playing styles. At 6, Ed Blake brings more size and experience to the fray, having already achieved two Blues. At open-side one of the most impressive performers of the season brings fresh energy in the form of Zenden Rozenbroek. Pinning the whole pack together at number eight is captain Jack Glover, who bring his pace and leadership to the team, picking up his second Blue in the process.

In the Back Line, the Australian flavour continues at half back with the New South Wales pairing of Jack Hamilton and Archie King bringing game understanding and the Australian flair to the party. In the centres we see the returning Blue partnership of Luke Wyllie and Harry Bridgewater, who will be relishing the opportunity to inject their physicality on the game. The back three contains a raft of experience and flair in equal measure. Scotland schoolboy international, Hector Skipworth will be looking to get his hands on the ball early and show his pace on the artificial surface. Fifth Year Medic tom Mewes brings a wealth of experience to the other wing having come through the club in his early years to earn his first Blue in last year's match. At Full Back, Sam Reynolds is looking to sign off in style as he earns his third and final Blue.

Off the Bench The front row replacements are Joel Anjorin looking to earn his first Blue. Noah Zenios who will be earning his second Blue and Harry Pratt who's brother lines up for Cambridge. Covering the back 5 of the scrum George Fowler and Otis Walker will most certainly bring an impact with their pace and physicality. The backs replacements of Vasco Faria, Ben Scher and Wolfe Morn are the definitive impact players and are sure to excite the fans with their combined skill sets.

Where to watch:

You will be able to watch full coverage of both the Men’s and Women’s matches via;

The Varsity Matches Facebook page

The Varsity Matches YouTube page

The Varsity Matches Website

Oxford University Rugby Football Club Facebook page

You will also be able to watch on UK Broadcast via Viaplay on their OTT Platform live, or on Viaplay 1 from 22:00 on the 2nd March 2024.

For our overseas fans, you can catch the action on the following networks:

South & Pan Africa - Supersport, MNET & CSN

Portugal - Sport TV

Japan - Jsports

Poland - SportKlub

Canada - CBC

USA & Canada - For the Fans & Sport Tribal TV

Pan Middle East - Dubai Sports Channel

Hong Kong & China - Now TV

China, Taiwan & Hong Kong - Star Sports

Australia - Star Entertainment (Assume this means Stan, have checked and it is scheduled on Stan)

[Burgs]

CURUFC Men Announce 2024 Varsity Match Team

Published on Wednesday, 28 February 2024 https://curufc.com/news-6499-CURUFC_...atch_Team.aspx

The CURUFC men's squad for the 2024 Varsity Match has been named by Captain Benjamin Gompels. The men will kick off at 3pm on the 2nd March at StoneX Stadium. For more information about tickets, click here.

15. James Farndale (The Edinburgh Academy & Robinson)
14. Tim Andrew (Pate’s Grammar School & Jesus) *
13. Max Loveridge (Nottingham High School & Jesus) *
12. Matt Riddington (Oakham School & St Edmund's)
11. Ikechi Mere (Eton College & St John's)
10. Jamie Benson (Hampton School & Downing) *
9. David Holdroyd (Adams’ Grammar School & Jesus) *

1. James Wyse (Clongowes Wood College SJ & Lucy Cavendish)
2. Ben Gompels (St Bede’s Catholic College & Darwin, Captain) *
3. Danny Collins (Maria Immaculata Community College & Wolfson) *
4. Charles Kantolinna (Bishop Wordsworth’s School & Jesus)
5. Byron Hodge (Waverley College & Wolfson) *
6. Harry Jones (Hills Road Sixth Form & Darwin)
7. Fergus Hughes (Nelson College & St. Edmund’s) *
8. Makoto Tosa (Onomichi High School & Clare Hall) *

16. Connor Collins (Millfield & St Catharine's)
17. Stefan Nixon (Colaiste Cill Mhantain & Darwin)
18.Thomas Petty (Trinity School & Robinson)
19. Charles Hancock (Reed’s School & Robinson)
20. James Pratt (Methodist College, Belfast & Sidney Sussex)
21. Daniel Hide (St Andrew's College, Dublin & Hughes Hall)
22. George Bland (Oakham School & King's)
23. Tomos Miller (RGS High Wycombe & Homerton)

(TR) Fin Edwards (Eltham College & Downing)
(TR) Jack Allinson (RGS High Wycombe & St John's)

Remains THE singular most retarded way to list a team...

[Burgs]

Cambridge’s Varsity Match No 8 switches sides after playing for Oxford 15 years ago

The Cambridge No 8 for Saturday’s Varsity match is not your typical Oxbridge back-row forward.

In 2009, Makoto Tosa came off the bench for Oxford as they were beaten 31-27. In doing so he became only the third ever Japanese player to have played in the Varsity. Fifteen years later, the 37-year-old has swapped allegiances owing to a MBA at Cambridge to prepare for life as a director of rugby in Japan’s top flight. His move to the lighter shade of blue did not go down too well with his old Oxford team-mates, but that did not stop Tosa.

Even more extraordinary than representing both sides in the prestigious fixture is Tosa’s journey between appearances. Tosa was diagnosed with epilepsy in March 2012, after he had been a surprise inclusion in Eddie Jones’ Japan training squad. A year later, Tosa had open brain surgery, before returning to professional rugby. It is believed he was just the second person to have done so.
“I had beers with my Green Rockets lads the day we got the Japan squad announcement. It was a massive night. In the shower room back at the club I fell over, bubbles were coming out of my mouth, my eyes were rolling around in my head,” Tosa recalls.

At first his team-mates thought he was just drunk, even possibly joking around. In fact, Tosa had suffered an epileptic seizure. He woke up in an ambulance on the way to hospital where his brain was scanned and a diagnosis of brain tumour-related epilepsy followed.

“I didn’t know what epilepsy was. I didn’t even know what a brain tumour was,” Tosa explains. “I asked: ‘Can I still play rugby?’ The doc told me: ‘I’m not sure, maybe your club, your company, your family will guide what direction you go.’”

He was put on medication for more than a year to combat the seizures, but to little avail. His mental health seriously deteriorated.

“I was a very unbalanced man at that time… In Japan, having epilepsy isn’t really a good idea, people try to hide their condition because it’s embarrassing. I was very anxious, very down, and felt I couldn’t come back to rugby. I didn’t tell anyone. That eventually became real pressure on me, I couldn’t speak out about what I was feeling inside and needed real help,” says Tosa.

Ultimately, open brain surgery – a temporal lobectomy – was the only option.“I was the first case in Japan of a man having brain surgery and returning to elite contact sport, maybe the second case in the world after Julian Huxley,” he says.

Tosa credited Huxley, who played Super Rugby for a decade and was capped nine times by the Wallabies, with having helped him to make the decision to have surgery; incidentally carried out while Jones was in the same hospital recovering from a stroke.

“In the Green Rockets changing room one time, the guy sitting next to me was Gareth Delve, the former Wales international; he knew Huxley. He told me: ‘Oh, Tosa I know the guy who had the same stuff, he returned to Super Rugby. I can link you up with him.’ I spoke with him [Huxley] and decided to have surgery.”

But surgery in late 2013 was not the end of Tosa’s mental struggle as he became worried about being forced into another surgery through a concussion or a head collision reopening his surgical wounds. Central to overcoming that fear were his efforts to raise awareness about epilepsy, a move inspired by former Premier League striker, Jay Bothroyd, who played in Japan between 2015 and 2021.

“While I was struggling, Bothroyd fell over with the same thing and spoke out immediately when journalists asked him what happened. He’s a figure I admire, I did some charity stuff with him when he was in Japan, he’s quite famous in Japanese football,” Tosa explains.

“When I made my return, I thought speaking out would encourage other people with the same condition to speak out. I told them: ‘You’re not alone, I’m a guy who had the same issue, you can do whatever you want.’ Japanese people are very shy, but I got text messages saying ‘arigatou’… That pushed me to come back and play harder.”

Tosa’s return to rugby went from strength to strength. After leaving the Green Rockets, he played in Australia’s Shute Shield for one season, before returning to Japan to captain the Mitsubishi DynoBoars from 2017 to 2023 in the Japanese premiership. In that time, he played against some world-class talent, including Jerome Kaino and Beauden Barrett.

Although he will be in the second year of his MBA at Cambridge next year, this is likely to be Tosa’s final match, whatever the result. But being on the winning side feels somewhat incidental given the journey Tosa has been on.

[shasta]

Well that's interesting. I thought Robbo might still be in ACL rehab from May last year. He was scheduled for 6months post grad study at Oxford. Hopefully "soon" is real soon.

[jargan83]

This is true leather elbow patch territory as far as Rugby fans go.

[Burgs]

This is true leather elbow patch territory as far as Rugby fans go.

The way "modern" Rugby is going, that may not be a bad thing to celebrate...

[shasta]

Watched some of the mini match. Obviously not SR intensity, but Robbo put in a 70 min shift. Despite Oxford copping a flogging, their scrum was dominant.

[wholetruth]

Well that's interesting. I thought Robbo might still be in ACL rehab from May last year. He was scheduled for 6months post grad study at Oxford. Hopefully "soon" is real soon.

I thought he looked smaller and lighter.

[Kernow]

Watched some of the mini match. Obviously not SR intensity, but Robbo put in a 70 min shift. Despite Oxford copping a flogging, their scrum was dominant.

Looked like he came off injured