Oxford vs Cambridge
Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:27
This year's Nomura Varsity match at Twickenham Stadium sees to international stars going to-head to-head with former New Zealand captain Anton Oliver lining up against Wallaby lock Dan Vickerman.
With Oxford having lost the last three encounters between themselves and Cambridge the pressure in on internationals Oliver and, Canadian flank Stan McKeen, to inspire a win for their side.
But they will have to contend with Cambridge's new signing Vickerman, former All Black centre Mark Ranby (one cap) and USA scrumhalf Doug Rowe (two caps). Capped 54 times for Australia, Vickerman helped the Wallabies to a second place finish in this year's Tri-Nations before heading to England to further his studies.
Oxford captain Peter Clarke said, "Leaders like these guys will bring invaluable experience, especially for our younger players; our winger Sean Morris is a fresher and our fly half, Ross Swanson is only 19 years old.
"But we won't just be relying on them. It's very much a team effort and if we're to get the win, everyone from one to 22 will have to do their jobs."
Cambridge have 60 victories to their opponents' 52 (the match has been drawn on 14 occasions), but Light Blues' captain Jon Dawson knows that adding to that tally will be tough. " We're not looking at the past, we're a different set of players who and treating this as a one-off game. Oxford have had a very good season, they're a very good side," said the former Harlequins prop.
"There is a younger element to our team but we've got a lot of experience, particularly in guys like Dan and Mark. It's a good blend and we'll certainly be giving it all we can."
The 127th Oxford v Cambridge battle, sponsored by Nomura, will be played at Twickenham Stadium on Thursday, December 11 (kick off 2pm).
Cambridge: 15 Jimmy Richards, 14 James Wellwood, 13 Chris Lewis, 12 Mark Ranby, 11 James Greenwood, 10 Sandy
Reid, 9 Doug Rowe, 8. Trevor Boynton, 7 Tom Malaney, 6 Will Jones, 4 Dan Vickerman, 4 Marty Wilson, 3 Jon Dawson (captain), 2 Matt Crockett, 1 Niall Conlon
Replacements: 16 Andy Daniel, 17 Patrick Crossley, 18 Conor O'Keeffe, 19 Charlie Rees, 20 Joe Wheeler, 21 Rhidian McGuire, 22 Scott MacLellan
Oxford: 15 Chris Mahony, 14 Sean Morris, 13 Jon Burnett, 12 Tom Gregory, 11 Tim Catling, 10 Ross Swanson, 9 Brendan McKerchar, 8 Peter Wright, 7 Peter Clarke, (captain), 6 Stan McKeen, 5 Bert Payne, 4 Ian Kench, 3 Wayne Thompson, 2 Anton Oliver, 1 Ricky Lutton
Replacements: 16 Dan Rosen, 17 Kevin Davis or Will Johnson, 18 Nic Van Zyl, 19 Chris Davies, 20 Toby Henry, 21 Alex Cheesman, 22 Will Browne
With thanks to the RFU.
Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy
