Cambridge University went to Cardiff and ran into the BUCS Women’s rugby champions and one of Team GB’s Olympic sevens players.
It was a difficult afternoon all round for the Light Blues, especially as they lost four players to injuries and spent the final few minutes playing with 12 players having only travelled with the bare 15. But their 12 try, 72-0 defeat was not without merit.
Last year they conceded 20 tries in a 138-0 drubbing at against Cardiff Met and were considered one of the weakest teams the Welsh university faced on the march to their BUCS title at Twickenham. This time it was different.
“They were much, much better than the team we faced last year. And fair play to them, they kept tackling to the end and frustrated us for long periods,” said Cardiff Met coach Rhys Edwards, the man who also coached the Wales national team last season.
“They were very unlucky with injuries, but there are some very good players in their side. We had five members of last year’s winning team playing and had Jazz Joyce, the Olympic sevens player, at full back.
“I think Alice Middleton has every cause to feel pleased with the effort put into the game by her players. It will be interesting to see how they compare to the Oxford University team we are due to play next week.”
While Middleton’s girls were losing in Cardiff, opposite number Catherine Wilcock’s Dark Blues were going down to a 43-0 home defeat to the newly promoted Bristol University side that had beaten Cambridge 45-7 the previous week.
Oxford conceded four tries in the first half to trail 24-0 at the break and then a further three in the second half. At Cardiff, Cambridge were 34-0 adrift at the break having lost two players.
Cardiff Met gave them a player to help out in the second half, but the Light Blues then lost two more players before the end of the game. Both home centres scored hat-tricks and Joyce helped herself to two tries.
One again Middleton’s performance caught everyone’s attention, including that of on-looking Wales Women’s Head Coach Rowland Phillips, and it took a brilliant last ditch tackle by Joyce, who has spent the past two years in full-time training with the British sevens squad, to stop the Light Blues skipper from scoring what would have been a wonderful try.
Next week Oxford host Cardiff Met and Cambridge travel to Exeter University. The two teams then meet at Grange Road in a Varsity Match dress rehearsal on Wednesday 2 November.
The 135th Varsity Match and The 30th Women’s Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge will return to Twickenham on Thursday 8th December, with tickets on sale now.
Oxford University: Sophie Trott; Affi Bunting, Heli Copley, Carly Bliss, Millie Rose; Catherine Wilcock (captain), Iona Harrap; Jenny Smith, Pat Metcalfe-Jones, Cecilia Peker, Harriet McCay, Sophie Taylor, Carolina Matté Gregory, Leanne Robinson, Elmarie van Heerden
Reps: Gwen Cartwright, Beth Candlin , Anna Gibson, Mollie MacGinty, Imogen Duffy, Gemma Robson
