The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge have selected their squads for this Friday’s Pcubed Rugby League Varsity Match.
Captains Gareth Davies (Oxford, Wadham College) and Harry Cozens (Cambridge, St John’s) will lead out the teams in the 35th Battle of the Blues to face each other at 3pm at the Honourable Artillery Company in the heart of the City of London.
The game is preceded by a hospitality lunch with Old Boys, Oxbridge Alumni, City professionals and Guest of Honour Martin Offiah MBE, the largest in the game’s recent history.
After a string of five victories over their Light Blue rivals, Oxford lead the series 17-16 (one draw) for the first time since 1992.
Announcing on Sunday 1 March, Oxford’s Davies said “we come into the Pcubed Rugby League Varsity Match as favourites but we know how formidable Cambridge can be. I am sure it must be hard to take to the field after recent results, but that will just make the Light Blues more determined. We’re certainly looking to cement our lead and make complete a set of six back-to-back victories – the first in Varsity’s history”.
Cambridge’s Cozens hit back a day later with “Cambridge know what it’s like to be part of a winning side. We saw five back-to-back victories in the late 1990s and held the lead for 22 years. I’m very pleased Oxford managed to address the gap between the clubs; it makes it more exciting for players and spectators and has certainly fired up the squad for this year’s game.”
Oxford (Dark Blue)
1. Will Henshall (Wadham)
2. Conor McCleary (Brasenose)
3. Charlie Davies (New)
4. Chris Mansfield (Jesus)
5. Josh Marshall (St Cross)
6. Crawford Matthews (St Antony’s)
7. James Clark * (Brasenose)
8. Will Key (St Catherine’s)
9. Sam Steinert (Keble)
10. Leo Bentley * (Somerville)
11. Gareth Davies – Capt * (Wadham)
12. Tom Bradley (Queen’s)
13. Mark Giza (Queen’s)
14. Calum Lomas (St Hugh’s)
15. Yoni Dennis * (Wadham)
16. Matt Lewis (Queen’s)
17. Sam Bainbridge (St Catherine’s)
18. Alex Babb (St Peter’s)
19. Anthony Collias (Keble)
Cambridge (Light Blue)
1. William Wynell-Mayow (Clare)
2. Saul Leisegang (Churchill)
3. Ewan Smith (Churchill)
4. Peter Shotton (Gonville and Caius)
5. Anton Evans (Homerton)
6. Craig Winfield * (Selwyn)
7. Max Burrows (Homerton)
8. Harry Cozens – Capt. * (St John’s)
9. Dougal Balfour (Downing)
10. John Cormie (Hughes Hall)
11. Tom Hughes * (Wolfson)
12. George Laing * (Gonville and Caius)
13. James Greenan-Barrett (Churchill)
14. David Earnshaw (Sidney Sussex)
15. Matt Commin * (Robinson)
16. Stuart King (Emmanuel)
17. Nicky Watmore (Homerton)
* Denotes returning Blue