No 50-point bashing this year – Street
CAMBRIDGE University are preparing for an Oxford backlash after their commanding 52-0 victory last year, the first Women's Varsity match to be staged at Twickenham.
The Light Blues were in total command that day and ran in eight unopposed tries but are preparing for a much sterner test this time around
“We expect them to come out with fire in their bellies and revenge on their mind,” says skipper Alice Middleton who scored a hat-trick in the fixture last season.
“They have been working on some weaknesses we managed to exploit last season. If people come expecting a similar game to last year they might well be surprised. It will be a well fought battle,
“We are in a good position though. We are blessed with a healthy team, the competition for places has been greater and we have greater strength in depth.”
Cambridge include 12 Blues in their starting lineup. They struck the first psychological blow last month when they beat Oxford 22-0 at Grange Road in their BUCS game when their incisive backs again appeared to be the difference between the sides.
Oxford include nine Blues in their line-up and remain a team inclined to hit the highs and lows. They are consistently inconsistent.
A couple of months after that big defeat in the Varsity match last year when, by their own admission they froze and failed to themselves justice, they responded with a remarkable 3-0 win over Cambridge in their BUCS fixture.
And this season amid some big defeats they have also claimed some impressive wins in the BUCS competition, including a double over the University of Gloucestershire.
“We are evolving very quickly,” says coach Gary Street.
“At the start of last season we still had some complete novices and I was literally saying ‘this is a rugby ball and you pass it backwards’. Our full-back last year Sophie Trott arrived at Twickenham with only five or six weeks competitive rugby under her belt.
“The difference is huge, now we are working on tactical shapes and taking our skills to a different level. We are 12 months more experienced.
“Our policy this year has been to be as competitive as we can in the games we can win and to be as resilient as possible in the games against much harder opposition and to learn from the better teams and players we encounter.”