Lare Erogbogbo did his chances of following twin brother Lola in winning a blue at Twickenham as he scored twice in Cambridge University’s 33-21 win over Coventry at Grange Road.
It was the Light Blues’ third win of the season on the road to their 135th clash with Oxford in the Varsity Match and was the perfect follow up to their 30-19 victory over Crawshay’s Welsh last week. They also beat Cambridge RFC in the annual ‘Town v Gown’ match.
Right wing Erogbogbo opened the scoring for Daniel Dass’ men as he gave the home side the perfect start with a try after only two minutes that owed as much to a searing break from scrum half Seb Tullie as it did to Erogbogbo’s finishing skills. Fraser Gillies added the extras and the Light Blues were up and running.
Having honed their defensive skills in the recent game against Northampton Wanderers, Cambridge tackled like tigers and also showed a lot of attacking intent. Their adventure was rewarded with a second try after 18 minutes from inspirational skipper Dass which Gillies, who had pushed a penalty attempt narrowly wide moments earlier, again converted.
That try demonstrated the handling skills that head coach James Shanahan has been drilling into his side and there were two more tries to come before the break as the Light Blues built up a 28 point lead.
Veteran back row man Richard Bartholomew, on course for a fifth Blue, made the break that led to Erogbogbo’s second try of the night, with a long pass in midfield from Michael Phillips creating space for the wing, and Gillies was once again on target with the conversion.
The fourth try showed off the vision of Gillies as the Scottish outside half kicked delicately for left wing Henry King to show off his pace and control to gather another try which was converted. That ended a very purple patch for the home side and forced Coventry to react.
A sustained period of pressure just before the break led to referee Andy Drake losing patience with the Cambridge defenders and earned Tom Stanley a yellow card for cumulative team offences. Coventry took a quick tap penalty and over went full back Jay Heath for a try which Sam Hollisngworth converted.
Cambridge were conceding too many penalties, and Hollingsworth touched down again and added the conversion to close the gap to seven points. Now all the momentum was with the English Championship side and when Hollingsworth ran in a third try, which he also converted, the gap was cut to a mere seven points.
If ever there was a test of character for Dass and his team, this was it. A game in which they had seemed to be in total control was now in danger of slipping through their fingers.
There wasn’ t the same zip about their play in the second half, but when replacement back row man took a quick tap and go penalty in his own half he inspired a break out that ended with King touching down for his second try.
That score came with five minutes left to play and gave Cambridge the confidence to go on and close out the victory and make it two wins on the bounce at a vital time of season.
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. 2 for 1 adult tickets are now available online on all £28 ticket categories.
Cambridge Scorers: Tries: Lare Lorogbogbo 2, Henry King 2, Daniel Dass; Cons: Fraser Gillies 4
Cambridge University: Charlie Amesbury; Lare Erogbogbo, Rory Triniman, Michael Phillips, Henry King; Fraser Gillies, Seb Tullie; Will Briggs, Simon Hugkulstone, Jon Dixon, Tim Bond, Andrew Hunter, Richard Bartholomew, Tom Stanley, Daniel Dass (captain)
Replacements: Ewan West, Will Dean, Dimitri Moros, Lola Erogbogbo, Brian Du Toit, Bell, George Griffiths, Seb Williams, Clough
