Amesbury signs off by leading the Light Blues charge
The Cambridge University captain, Charlie Amesbury, embodied his side’s resolve as he led them to a second consecutive Varsity Match triumph over Oxford and saluted the tenacity and toughness of the Light Blues at the final whistle.
The former Bristol full-back, who retired from professional rugby in May, was denied a firsthalf score by the Television Match Official after burrowing over with a pick-and-go. However, he was back among his exceptional forwards with 10 minutes remaining, joining a driving maul to give Cambridge a 20-10 lead that they refused to relinquish.
“The game was played in a tremendous spirit, but I just think we had a bit more fight in us,” Amesbury said. “We’ve been to some dark places this season and I think that showed. It’s an amazing feeling. I knew we had the ascendancy in the maul all game. It was a case of one more body and, luckily, that body was mine.
“Last year I felt I could have done a bit more in attack. Unless you’ve played this game once, you don’t know what it’s about. Playing it twice was really valuable for me – I felt I could grow into it a bit more.”
With the torrential rain of earlier in the day giving way to a crisp afternoon, Cambridge started the brighter. They boxed Oxford inside their own 22 and almost took the lead within three minutes, but No8 Buchan Richardson was bundled into touch close to the right corner.
The Dark Blues arrived on the back of some impressive results and were fluent once they began to string phases together. The footwork of full-back Sam Edgerley, a former England Sevens regular, looked particularly dangerous and only two intercepted offloads, from openside flanker Andy Saull and then No 8 Will Wilson, allowed Cambridge to escape. Oxford would be punished for those slips.
Although Amesbury was judged to have been held up in the deadball area and left-wing Henry King spilled from five metres out, the Light Blues pack surged through to win the resultant scrum against the head. Scrum-half and man of the match Chris Bell went over untouched. Mike Phillips missed the conversion but Cambridge led 5-0 after 29 minutes.
Oxford’s riposte, via a penalty from captain Conor Kearns, was rapid and they were granted two slices of luck to end the half. Phillips squandered another chance from the tee and then a fine try from Harlequins Academy centre Jake Hennessey was chalked off for a forward pass. Cambridge led 5-3 at the break – a smaller cushion than it might have been.
Newcastle Falcon Dom Waldouck emerged for Oxford following the half-time break but Cambridge drew first blood in the second period and seemed in control. Phillips added a penalty to make it 8-3 and Archie Russell’s finish with 25 minutes to go, thanks to a strong outside break, brought a 10-point buffer.
Again Oxford responded swiftly and the outstanding Wilson shunted over to reward their concerted pressure on 65 minutes, Kearns converting. Amesbury dotted down at the tail of the telling maul soon afterwards, though, and his team rode out a frantic finale.
Cambridge right-wing Ollie Phillips, a former world sevens player of the year on an executive MBA course, bowed out of the sport with this win. Praising the “phenomenal” Amesbury, he looked forward to returning to his day job as a director at Pricewaterhousecoopers. “When I was 18, this is how I wanted to finish,” explained the 35-year-old. “This was always the final chapter, and it’s closure for me.
“I’ll be at my desk tomorrow morning, nursing a very thick hangover… but that’s what makes this so special. That’s the magic of it. All the build-up for 12 days, the traditions and the history is incredible.”