Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club (CURUFC) were run ragged by a physically and technically superior Trinity College Dublin (TCD) side on Monday night, as they fell to a crushing 50–0 defeat at Grange Road.

It was a night to forget for both the Light Blues – who were looking to rediscover their winning mojo after falling to a 33–25 away defeat to Richmond last week – and for 'on-loan' professional full-back Charlie Amesbury, who was captaining the home side for the first time with regular skipper Daniel Dass confined to the stands due to injury. 

The match could not have got off to a worse start for CURUFC: with only three minutes on the clock, they found themselves a converted try behind after a missed tackle in the middle of the park allowed TCD captain Jack Burke to score. 

Indeed, the away side had crossed the Irish Sea full of attacking intent that was evident within the opening few minutes, and by the seventh minute, Burke had scored again. Another missed tackle set the TCD skipper through to score a try under the posts, which was duly converted by fly-half Jack McDermott to take the score to 14–0 to the Irishmen.

Some choice words from Amesbury, who had shown his Aviva Premiership class by scoring a stunning solo try in London the week before, to his team as the conversion was taken seemed to wake CURUFC up. Their defence improved greatly, with the Light Blues – particularly fly-half Fraser Gillies – getting in some big hits to floor a few sizeable members of the Dublin contingent and force the TCD side back. But the visitors sent wave upon wave of attacks and, eventually, the home side's resistance crumbled via a mistake from one of their own: Gillies’ pass was intercepted and, while the Hughes Hall man did well to recover, the Irishmen grabbed a sublime try a couple of phases later, as winger Evan Dixon caught McDermott's clever crossfield kick to touch down in the corner. 

Improved CURUFC edge tight Town v Gown thriller

Five minutes before the break, CURUFC, who were playing in their maroon away kit, were opened up again. Centre Michael Courtney burst his way through to register TCD's fourth try of the night which, after the conversion was missed, left the score at 24–0 as the half-time whistle blew, just after the Light Blues had squandered a rare attacking opportunity after hooker Fionn Dillon Kelly's break. 

Before Wednesday's match, CURUFC coach James Shanahan had praised his side's defensive performance at Richmond, telling Cambridge News that "we had defended well" and it was "a poor five-minute period where they scored a couple of tries" that had cost his side the game, particularly after "a bit of ill-discipline."

But he will be lamenting his side's performance in the second-half, particularly their failure to learn from past mistakes as far as ill-discipline is concerned. Shortly after Evan Dixon glided through the Light Blues' defence for his second try of the match, which McDermott duly converted, prop Will Briggs was sent for 10 minutes in the sin-bin after repeated offences in the scrum.

Down to 14 men, the proceedings become much more a war of attrition than the first with handling errors from both sides leading to a much more stop-start affair than the first. Not even a rendition of “Will Briggs’s On Fire” from a small section of the crowd following his return from the sin bin in the 60th minute could terrify the TCD defence and, despite putting in a remarkable defensive shift with a man down, the normal state of affairs was resumed when CURUFC returned to their full complement of 15. 

Indeed, the superbly quick hands of the TCD team allowed Evan Dixon to finish off his hat-trick with a try that full-back Colm Hogan converted. As the match drew to the close, the Dubliners’ scoring rate showed no sign of abating as they punished an increasingly tiring and despondent Cambridge side: in the 77th minute, a slick first phase move from the line-out saw TCD carve through the Light Blues' midfield and McDermott touch down to score. In the 84th minute, with the clock in the red, the TCD forwards rumbled over to allow the Irishmen's skipper Burke to also complete his hat-trick and take the score to 50–0.

It was a simple case of CURUFC being thoroughly outclassed by an energetic and abrasive TCD side, who could not handle the quick passing and hard running Dubliners. Indeed, if anything, the scoreline was kind to CURUFC, who could have been on the end of an even heavier loss save for some handling errors by the away side's wingers.

While the result, and having nothing to show for their efforts, may be a huge dent to the Light Blues' confidence, there will not be much respite for CURUFC: tough fixtures over the next few weeks against the likes of Durham and Northampton Saints lie in store before the Varsity Match at Twickenham in December.

Referee: George Richardson