CURUFC 35-28 OURFC: Men's Varsity Match 2025

Cambridge Men made it three Varsity wins in a row for the first time since 2007 as they completed an astonishing comeback to beat Oxford 35-28 at StoneX Stadium. 

The Light Blues trailed 21-6 at one point but turned it around in the second half and snatched the win thanks to a 77th minute try from Luke John in front of a vocal crowd in North London.

Cambridge enjoyed all of the early possession and territory, with a string of three successive penalties which took them right up to the line. After two maul attempts they got another penalty, and this time opted for the posts as George Bland kicked them in to an early 3-0 lead. 

Oxford hit straight back though, a penalty was kicked to the corner and Michael Fankah charged over from the maul to score the first try of the afternoon. Henry Bridgewater gave them a 7-3 advantage after a lively opening 10 minutes. 

The Dark Blues were struggling with their discipline which was allowing their opponents to spend the majority of the opening exchanges in their half, and they were punished when Bland kicked another penalty to cut the deficit to just one point. 

Tim Andrew almost scored a wonder try for Cambridge when he broke down the shortside and gathered his own chip ahead, but Bridgewater got across to cover and hauled him down. 

Oxford were beginning to get some dominance up front, particularly at scrum time and they made that count just before the 30 minute mark. A penalty was kicked to the corner and then William Roddy bundled over from the back of the maul to put them further in front. The conversion made it 14-6 as we approached the break. 

It got better for Oxford with five minutes to go until half time, Benjamin Scher’s incredible touch finder put them within striking distance, and then after going through the phases Fankah went over for his second of the afternoon from just one metre out.

Cambridge got a much needed lifeline with two minutes left of the opening 40. They kept applying the pressure and then eventually it was spun wide to Matt Riddington who stretched over in the corner, cutting the deficit to 21-11.

The match then flipped on its head just before the break as Jack Hamilton was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on and Cambridge punished them straight away with Alex Christey scoring, and all of a sudden it was 21-18 after an enthralling opening 40.

It was a frantic start to the second 40 with both sides playing an expansive style and looking to get round the edge of their opponents. 

It settled down however in the final quarter, and Oxford capitalised as Roddy got his second from close range to give them some much needed breathing space. 

Cambridge came agonisingly close on two occasions to getting back in the match, one penalty from deep inside the 22 which they couldn’t convert, and then one lineout five metres from the line which was stolen and cleared.

The pressure did tell with 15 minutes left though, a looping pass found Ryan Santos on his own on the right wing, and the conversion made it 25-28 to set up a grandstand finish. 

There was more drama to come, an incredible break from Tim Andrew took them up to the line and then Luke John dived over to send the Cambridge fans delirious as they took the lead with just four minutes left.

Bland kept his nerve to convert, and then sealed the win in the final play with a penalty to register a famous 35-28 win. 

Oxford: 

15 Henry Bridgewater 14 Thomas Mewes (Shaw, 77) 13 Daniel Stokes 12 Luke Wyllie (c) (Sander, 15) (Sander, 15) 11 Wolfe Morn 10 Benjamin Scher 9 Jack Hamilton 1 Oliver Kirk (O’Donnell, 77) 2 William Roddy (Belcher-Heath, 77) 3 Michael Fankah (Pratt, 71) 4 Thomas Toze (Rozenbrook, 42) 5 Ben Hartigan (Pratt, 72) 6 Fergus Dick 7 Luke Newland 8 Otis Walker

Replacements:

16 Michael O’Donnell 17 John Belcher-Heath 18 Harry Pratt 19 Zenden Rozenbroek 20 James Pratt 21 Sam Line 22 Jack Sander 23 Ben Shaw

Scorers:

Tries: Michael Fankah (8, 34 minutes) William Roddy (27, 55 minutes)

Conversions: Henry Bridgewater (8, 27, 34, 55 minutes)

Yellow Card: Jack Hamilton

Cambridge: 

15 George Bland 14 Ryan Santos (Day, 78) 13 Luke John 12 Matt Riddington 11 Tim Andrew 10 Nathan Bottomley (Allison, 55) 9 David Holdroyd (Hide, 55)1 Daniel Collins 2 Benjamin Gompels 3 Finlay Edwards (Collins, 66) 4 Charles Kantolinna 5 Aidan Beaumont (Jones, 55) 6 Fergus Hughes (c) 7 Alex Christey 8 Makoto Tosa

Replacements:

16 Arnaud du Roy 17 Elvis Addai 18 Thomas Petty 19 Harry Jones 20 Tom Evans 21 Daniel Hide 22 Jack Allinson 23 Joe Day 24 George Williams 25 Tomos Miller

Scorers:

Tries: Matt Riddington (38 minutes) Alex Christey (40 minutes) Ryan Santos (67 minutes) Luke John (76 minutes)

Conversions: George Bland (40, 67, 76 minutes)

Penalties: George Bland (5, 17, 80 minutes)

Half Time Score: Oxford 21-18 Cambridge