Cambridge hold on to record back to back wins at Twickenham
CAMBRIDGE captain Charlie Amesbury led his side to back-toback Twickenham victories on Thursday after denying Oxford’s late fightback.
Cambridge led 13-3 through tries from Chris Bell and Archie Russell before Will Wilson reduced the deficit, but former Bristol full-back Amesbury sealed victory after joining the back of a powerful maul.
The victory for Amesbury’s side followed a 23-18 win over the Dark Blues in 2016 which ended a run of six-straight defeats.
Amesbury said: “The game was played in a tremendous spirit but I just think we had a bit more fight in us.
“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 – I felt I could grow into it a bit more.”
Cambridge boxed Oxford inside their own 22 and almost took the lead within three minutes, but No.8 Buchan Richardson was bundled into touch close to the right corner.
Amesbury was adjudged to have been held up in the dead-ball area and left wing Henry King fumbled from five metres out. But the Light Blues pack, with loosehead Will Briggs making his record seventh Varsity appearance, surged through to win the resultant scrum against the head and No.9 Chris Bell went over untouched.
Mike Phillips missed the conversion but Cambridge led 5-0 after 29 minutes.
Conor Kearns’ penalty made it 5-3 at the break after an Oxford try from Harlequins Academy centre Jake Hennessey was chalked off for a forward pass.
Newcastle Falcon Dom Waldouck emerged for Oxford following the halftime break but Cambridge drew first blood in the second period. Russell, brother of Scotland centre Finn, burst through a couple of tackles to cross in the corner to extend Cambridge’s lead, but Wilson forced his way over to make it 13-10.
Oxford could not maintain the pressure in the final ten minutes and when Amesbury was driven over, it ended any chance of a comeback.
Star man Bell said: “It’s absolutely awesome. We talked last year about a new breed of players, a new ethic around the club. That really shone through last year and we’ve just carried it on, we’ve worked really hard and we’re delighted.
“It’s been a long four months or so and we’ll definitely enjoy ourselves.”