Russell restores family pride at Twickenham

OXFORD CAMBRIDGE 10 20

Archie Russell restored family pride at Twickenham as he scored a try to help Cambridge clinch Varsity Match glory nine months after his elder brother Finn had taken a pounding at the same venue.

Scotland and British & Irish Lions stand-off Finn was part of the Scottish side beaten 61-21 by England in the Six Nations in March and Russell junior was determined not to suffer the same fate on his big day out at the home of English rugby.

“It was the only Six Nations away game I went to watch and it wasn’t good. This game was my chance to put my name down as a Russell, and not just be known as Finn’s brother,” said Russell.

Hisbigmomentcame15minutes into the second half when he brushed aside two Oxford defenders to race over in the corner for a try that put real daylight between the teams in a tight contest. His score put Cambridge ten points clear, although that was clawed back by a Will Wilson try.

In the end, the Light Blues

0 Archie Russell: Scored try. made it back-to-back wins for the first time since 2007 with their Scottish trio of Russell and Jake Hennessey at centre,andbarnstormingno8 Buchan Richardson, all standing out.

The other Cambridge tries came from scrum-half Chris Bell, who claimed a first-half touchdown, and captain Charlie Amesbury who went over ten minutes from time.

Cambridge stand-off Mike Phillips added a penalty and conversion, with his opposite number Conor Kearns kicking a penalty and No 8 Wilson collecting a try that Kearns converted, but Oxford’s bid for a seventh victory in the last eight Varsity clashes came up short.