The Varsity Rugby Match is an annual rugby union competition that takes place between the college rugby teams of Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

The match is held at Twickenham Stadium, which has been its home since 1921.

Traditionally the match is held on the second Tuesday in December, but this has been known to vary in recent years. Aside from interruptions during the two world wars, the match has been held each year since 1872. So far, Cambridge has won the most matches over the years, but by a fairly small margin.

The game is quite popular, with over 30,000 spectators attending and well over 1,000,000 people viewing the televised match.

The Varsity Match is the pinnacle of amateur rugby in the UK, and in the time before professional rugby came along, it was indeed the pinnacle of the game itself. In days gone by, spectators would see the next up and coming players at the Varsity Rugby Match. However, things changed drastically with the advent of professional rugby.

Now the up and coming players were heading straight for professional clubs, and places like the Oxford and Cambridge University Rugby Teams became a popular spot for the ex-professionals; international players who had set their eyes on a post-Rugby career fuelled by a degree from these prestigious educational institutions.

Rugby purists lamented these changes and predicted dire things for the sport, but happily nothing too drastic has changed and over the years things have seemed to level off nicely. The games are still exciting, and the rivalry still fresh.

The Nomura Trophy is hotly contested, bragging rights to the name of Varsity Champion are highly coveted, and the Varsity Match is still one of the high points of international rugby's calendar of events. Amateur sports have a special place in the hearts of most fans, as inflated salaries and corporate sponsorship can sometimes leave a bad taste.

The Varsity Match is a great place to see rugby still played simply for the simple and unfettered fun of the game.

Twickenham Stadium

Rugby Road / Whitton Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW1 1DZ

Telephone: 0870 405 2000

Email www.rfu.com

Photo courtesy: J-Fair

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