The Varsity Matches come to Mattioli Woods Welford Road this Sunday, with full internationals and returning Blues lining up alongside players running out at this level for the first time.
The highest-profile game of amateur rugby in the calendar, The Varsity Matches began in 1872 and make a first-ever appearance at the home of the Leicester Tigers, with a full afternoon of rugby featuring the women’s and men’s team from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
George Messum is among 13 returning Blues in the Oxford men’s squad, having previously played at Loughborough Students and in the Northampton Saints academy. He has also captained England Students.
He is joined in the Oxford back row by US Eagles international flanker Andrew Durutalo, who has 22 Test caps and played in the Rugby World Cup and Olympics after initially earning age-group selection with Fiji.
There is Premiership academy, Championship and National League experience in the backline where Andrew Humberstone joins his older brother Tom, and scrum-half Calum Grant follows in the footsteps of his brother Andrew, who was in the 2015 Dark Blues team.
There is a place among the replacements for prop Matt Dennis-Soto who has played for Luxembourg.
“We have had some interesting curve balls thrown at us and we’re just happy to be able to get the game on and really excited about where we are,” skipper Messum said.
The Cambridge men’s squad is led by Stephen Leonard, a former Wales Under-16s representative now in his fourth Varsity appearance.
“We will have played five games before the big dance and I’ve never seen a group of players work so hard towards a Varsity Match,” added Leonard.
The backline includes a notable newcomer at fly-half in Etienne Dussartre, a former France Under-20s player who has featured in Europe’s Heineken Champions Cup and the French league in spells with Racing 92 and Grenoble.
Left-wing Fergus Jemphrey was the two-try hero in the last Varsity Match in 2019.
Oxford women’s captain Fiona Kennedy has selected two international recruits in Italian flanker Bianca Coltellini and Wales back row Manon Johnes. They also have wing Laurel Chor on the bench after playing World Cup rugby with Hong Kong.
“It is great for our girls to be with players of the calibre of Manon, who has played so much rugby this year for Bristol Bears and Wales,” said Kennedy who is among nine returning Blues in a side packed with experience.
No8 Hannah Cooper will be in her sixth Varsity Match including two wins in the colours of rivals Cambridge.
Elisha Clark, in the final year of medical studies, leads Cambridge as they chase a fourth win in a row and as one of 12 returning Blues in the matchday squad.
The twins Jenni and Fiona Shuttleworth join forces in the back row in their fourth Varsity match while Alice Elgar would win her sixth Blue if she is used off the bench.
The team includes centre Maggie Simpson and No8 Anna Park who have played in the US university ranks and prop Vianney Gomezgil Yaspik is set to become the first Mexican to play in the event after playing experience in Canada, USA and Italy.
“We’ve hit it pretty hard on the training front and we’ve been chomping at the bit to get back into rugby,” said Clark.
“We’ve got a lot of returning strength and we’ve also got some international players coming through. The team we will take out is a team that has really stepped up.”
Kick-off is at 1.00pm in the women’s fixture and 3.30pm in the men’s.
Match tickets are still available, with all supporters accommodated in the North Stand. Book online or phone 0116 319 8888 (option 2).
