Fergus Taylor got his reign as the new captain of Oxford University off to a flying start as he scored a try in a five star, 35-17 victory at Esher.
The Dark Blues, victorious in the last six Varsity Matches at Twickenham, went into the game against the Esher Cardinals on the back of a training trip to France in which they played two warm-up matches at Stade Marquet, in Toulon, against US Seynoise (lost 7-0) and the Toulon Espoirs (lost 21-7).
The trip obviously did the squad a power of good because they hit their hosts with two tries from driving line-outs with Taylor and fellow lock Andrew Grant claiming the touchdowns. Outside half Basil Strang added the conversions to claim an early 14 point lead, but by the break Esher had hit back with three tries of their own to head into the second half with a 17-14 advantage.
Undeterred, Taylor and his pack set about their task with a vengeance after the break and there were three more tries from the forwards without a response from the home side. Flanker George Blomfield led the way with No 8 Will Wilson following suit before replacement flanker Jacob Goss also got in on the act.
Strang had a great night with the boot and completed a full house of conversions as he took the final score up to 35-17 with a 100% record. Oxford went into the game with eight members of the 2015 Varsity Match record breaking team that started in the 12-6 win over Cambridge 12-6 – Matt Geiger, Henry Hughes, Will Stileman, Henry De Berker, Taylor, Grant, Nic Roberts-Huntley and Wilson.
They also had further Blues who came off the bench last year in Will Thornton, Kieran Ball, Graeme MacGilchrist and Ed David. In addition, Strang won a Blue in 2014, while Johnny Marsden is the captain of the Oxford cricket team.
The 2016 Varsity Match takes place at Twickenham on Thursday, 8 December. Meanwhile, Taylor takes his side to Chinnor next Thursday before hosting Bristol United in the first home fixture at Iffley Road on Monday, 10 October (7.15pm kick-off).
Oxford Scorers: Tries: Andrew Grant, Fergus Taylor, George Blomfield, Will Wilson, Jacob Goss; Cons: Basil Strang 5.
OURFC (v Esher Cardinals): Matt Geiger; Ed David, Henry Hughes, Conor Kearns, Tom Stileman; Basil Strang, Henry de Berker; Kieran Ball, Will Thornton Joe Morris, Fergus Taylor (captain), Andrew Grant, Nic Roberts-Huntley, George Blomfield, Will Wilson
Reps: Noah Miller, Will Scaife, Paul Childs, Graeme MacGilchrist, Johnny Marsden, Jacob Goss, Tom Kershaw, Tom Dyer, Seb Haddock, Alex Hogg
