OXFORD have sprung a surprise by leaving their leading try scorer out of the side to face Cambridge in the 118th University Match at Twickenham next Tuesday.

Right winger James Platt, who at one stage scored in five successive games this season, loses his place to Toby Beer, who has played most of his rugby at scrum half.

Beer owes his shock inclusion to the fact that he is regarded as the best goalkicker in the club.

Steve Hill, Oxford's director of coaching, explained: "The last three years we've had opportunities early on to score points and not taken them.

"It's very tough on James Platt, who has had an outstanding term. But we are selecting this side to win the game. Over the past 20 years, you'll find that it's been the goalkicker that's won the game, and sadly, not the winger."

There was one other slight surprise when the team was announced, at a reception hosted by match sponsors Marsh and McLennan in London yesterday, with Peter Nicholas edging ahead of Matt Parker as hooker

Cambridge, for whom this is coach Tony Rodgers' 20th match, field eight of the side that won last year's encounter 16-12.

Ben Rudge, who played for Oxford in the 1997 match, turns out in the centre for Cambridge this time.

UNIVERSITY MATCH LINE-UPS

Oxford: P Graham (Worcester), T Beer (Regent's Park), K Shuman (Templeton)*, J Kinniburgh (Oriel), S Danielli (Trinity), S FitzGerald (Balliol), J Weston (Keble), R Lehner (Kellogg)*, P Nicholas (Brasenose), A Collins (Lincoln)*, A Russell (Magdalen), S Miall (St Anne's), L Sherriff (St Anne's), D Kelaher (St Cross)*, N Celliers (Keble)* capt.

Cambridge: G Paulin (Hughes Hall), G Williams (St Edmunds)*, A Bidwell (Hughes Hall)*, B Rudge (Queens'), R Morrow (Hughes Hall)*, K Iwabuchi (St Edmund's), G Peacocke (Hughes Hall)*, J Cooke (St Edmund's), J Hamilton-Smith (Homerton), N Hennessy (Homerton), H Innes (Hughes Hall)*, A Innes (Hughes Hall)* capt, T Mouton (St Edmund's)*, M Haslett (St Catherine's)*, M Count (Jesus).

*Denotes Blue.

Story date: Tuesday 30 November

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.