Rugby Union: Oxford caught cold by Frost

Cambridge University 15

By Michael Knox

Oxford University were caught cold at a freezing Twickenham yesterday as they failed to make it four Varsity Match victories in a row.

Cambridge scored two tries in the first 15 minutes and just held off a spirited Dark Blues revival to record their first victory in this historic fixture since 1998.Again it was desperately close. For the fifth successive match, the result was decided by less than five points. While Oxford could rue the odd delayed pass here and the odd missed place-kick there, they lost because of their inability to hold on to their own possession.

While their front five performed wonders in the tight and around the field, Oxford's momentum was halted by a sizeable amount of turnover ball, seized by Cambridge's outstanding No 8 Stew Eru and skipper Duncan Blaikie

It may be of little consolation to Oxford's distraught players, that this was a superb spectacle in front of a disappointing crowd of 42,000 and did much much to erase the memory of last year's dismal encounter.

The pattern was set after eight minutes when Cambridge cleverly exposed the Dark Blues' defensive frailties out wide which have been a worry all season.

From good line-out ball on halfway, they moved the ball right, and once the appropriately named Simon Frost had run round Oxford winger Stuart Douglas, he had a clear route to the line. Fly half Owen Edwards landed the touchline conversion.

Worse was to follow for Oxford, as they conceded turnover ball in midfield. This time, Cambridge moved the ball swiftly left to winger Aki Abiola.

He was caught by Will Rubie, but managed to pass inside to Frost to give the Zimabwean-born centre his second try. The only good news for Oxford at this stage was that Edwards missed the conversion.

The Dark Blues, trailing 12-0, needed a quick reponse to get back in the game - and got it, courtesy of Rubie.

They won good second-phase ball, but even after slick passing from Tim Barlow and Douglas, Rubie appeared to have little room when receiving the ball wide out on the 22. But a shimmy and sidestep eluded the Cambridge defence and the exciting winger ran round to touch down close to the posts.

However, crucially, as it would turn out, fly half Matt Honeyben, who had already seen an early penalty attempt strike the right-hand upright, missed the easy conversion.With Karrelle Dixon replacing Douglas who suffered the recurrence of a hamstring injury, Oxford competed well for the rest of the half but still trailed by seven points at the break.

Turning round 12-5 adrift, Oxford should have drawn level in a period of pressure after the interval. Barlow, who had an otherwise excellent game, delayed a pass to Rubie, when an early delivery would surely have given the winger his second try.

Honeyben's penalty was all Oxford had to show for this period of superiority. This was cancelled out when Edwards, who had missed one simple penalty, landed another to make it 15-8.

Oxford refused to lie down and pounded their opponents' line. Dixon was hauled down just short, when a pass would have put Rubie over.

Eventually the pressure told, when after initial bursts by Andrew Willett and Dan Taberner were blocked, Canadian prop Kevin Tkachuk eventually forced his way over the line.

The pressure was now on Honeyben to level the scores with his conversion. But he pushed his effort wide and Oxford were still two points behind.

A neat grubber kick by Honeyben put Cambridge under pressure on their line, but when referee Tony Spreadbury, who handled the game sypathetically, awarded the put-in to the Light Blues, Oxford knew it was not to be their year. Moments later, they could only watch as Blaikie was showed off the MMC Trophy to delighted Cambridge supporters.

Oxford: T Barlow, W Rubie, J Allen, A Willett, S Douglas (K Dixon 23), M Honeyben, D Taberner, K Tkachuk, D Griffiths, H Nwume, A Russell, C Edwards, F Gemmell (capt), B Durham (R Woods 63), D Lubans.

Cambridge: A Newmarch, S Kingsbury, S Frost, J Wright, A Abiola, O Edwards, B Dormer, R Bosch, C Collins (A Gladstone 80), J Reilly, G Webster, M Purdy, O Scrimgeour, D Blaikie (capt), S Eru.

Referee: A Spreadbury (RFU).

Attendance: 42,000.