Oxford University captain Joe Roff spoke of his immense pride in his team as he reflected on a second Varsity Match defeat.

Roff had longed to add a Varsity victory to his long list of achievements in an illustrious career, which has now ended.

But he could not fault his players' effort in a highly entertaining match.

Roff said: "My overwhelming emotion is pride in leading that groups of guys.

"We didn't get the result we were after, but I said to them afterwards I wouldn't have swapped having played with them this season for anything.

"I have a great sense of pride in leading one of the great rugby clubs in the world, but it is mixed with disappointment."

Roff added: "With ten minutes to we felt that we were still well and truly in the game.

"Right to the very last second we never gave up. We thought we could still take that game.

"I have to give a massive amount of credit to Ross Blake and Cambridge for the way they played.

"At times we were our own worst enemies, but Cambridge played a great defensive game."

Oxford director of rugby Steve Hill said: "I was really proud of how the guys came back from being eight points down.

"We showed a lot of patience and determination to do that.

"Both sides had a lot of belief in their abilities today.

"Ultimately I'm very, very disappointed with the result, but very proud of or effort.

"We were confident in the game we were playing.

"One can always look for better execution and it was more about that than the game plan."

Cambridge head coach Tony Rogers said: "I was confident from minute one that we could make a game out of it.

"That defence in the last five minutes showed the spirit of the squad.

"That was one of the most exciting Varsity Matches I've been involved in."

He added: "Shaun Edwards, the Wasps coach, has been our secret weapon with his defensive coaching."

Cambridge captain Ross Blake said: "There's a huge amount of belief in the squad.

"If we had had a goalkicker on the field we would have gone for the points when we scored our second try.

"But we went for the corner and it paid off."