Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club (CURUFC) put in a superb, confidence-boosting performance on Monday against Aviva Premiership side Northampton Saints’ second team – the Wanderers – at Grange Road, with the 61–7 scoreline doing a disservice to the Light Blues’ fine defensive efforts against an away side which included several international players.

Indeed, in a match which saw the home side's defence tested to the extreme, it was only through flashes of Premiership quality that the Wanderers broke through CURUFC’s lines. During the second half, in particular, the Light Blues looked threatening up front with the professional class of full-back Charlie Amesbury providing significant CURUFC threat.

The game started at a frenetic pace. Straight from the restart, the Wanderers knocked on to give CURUFC an early chance to test out a set-piece from a scrum in their opponents’ 22. But the sheer force of the away side’s forward muscle drove the Light Blues back, and it was a bone-shattering hit from Amesbury that prevented Northampton’s winger Howard Packman from gliding through to score. 

Hard-hitting defence from CURUFC epitomised the opening few minutes. On three occasions, huge defensive tackles on Saints attackers in the Light Blues’ 22  caused knock-ons that provided some defensive respite from the home side, who looked well-drilled and ready to put up a stern resistance.

Indeed, it surprised many (cynics) in the stands that it took the Saints 10 minutes to score their first try and, when it came, it was of a high quality that was a joy to watch: two well-timed inside balls in the centre of the park allowed Northampton scrum-half Tom Kessell to score under the posts and – following Sam Olver’s conversion – give the away side a 7–0 lead. 

The Light Blues refused to allow the floodgates to open, however, and after a superb last-ditch tackle from Mike Phillips prevented the Wanderers’ Lewis Ludlam from crossing the whitewash, the home side began to launch attacks of their own. A lightning-quick dart from Amesbury saw CURUFC gain forward momentum and reach the away side’s 22, though Fraser Gillies was, unfortunately, unable to latch onto the full-back’s offload.

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It was a similar scenario that saw Northampton grab their next try: Amesbury broke through the Saints’ line, leaving three players trailing in his wake, but the on-loan Bristol Rugby player’s misdirected hospital pass saw the Light Blues lose possession. And the away side pounced in clinical fashion as quick hands on the right wing gave Samoan international Ahsee Tuala, who has made six Premiership appearances this season, the chance to put through a grubber kick, which he collected himself to score. Olver’s superb conversion from right out on the touchline bisected the posts to take the score to 14–0. 

The rest of the half saw CURUFC under some concerted Northampton pressure, with only a couple of rare forays providing the home side with some defensive relief. But the Light Blues remained resilient, and a little fortunate: after an elaborate through-the-legs pass gave the Saints acres of space in the corner, Devante Onojaife managed to drop a simple pass before he could touch down to score. 

Moments later, however, the Wanderers were far more clinical: an inch-perfect territory kick from Olver pinned CURUFC back with a line-out on their own five-metre line and, as the Saints stole the ball, hooker Charlie Clare touched down from the back of a rolling maul to score a try, which Olver duly converted. 

With 10 minutes to go until halftime, the Light Blues launched their most threatening attack of the game. Captain Daniel Dass kept the ball alive and, following excellent handling from Will Briggs, Gillies broke forward and fed Rory Triniman with a sublime offload. Closing in on the line, it was a world-class last-ditch tackle from Packman that kept the home side’s centre out. 

On the stroke of the half-time interval, however, normal service was resumed: Tom Collins was on hand to score under the posts after a scything run from Nafi Tuitavake gave the Saints their fourth try, which the metronomic Olver converted. 

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CURUFC looked buoyed after the break. They began the second half well and truly on the front foot. Leading by example, Dass broke through the Wanderers’ line and was inching away from grabbing his own kick through to score. But the away side were to burst the Light Blues’ bubble shortly afterwards: an audacious cross-field kick from a penalty forced the CURUFC defence to engage scramble mode. Despite doing well to keep the Saints out, the home side conceded a scrum on their five-metre line from which the Wanderers were able to drive over for Devante Onojaife to score a try, again converted by Olver to leave the scoreboard reading 35–0.

Minutes later, Olver was adding his final conversion of the evening to take the score to 42–0, after Argentina international Juan Pablo Estelles also ran over the line, the grateful beneficiary of an off-load from a magnificent break from Collins.

After that early flurry of tries, however, the match became more fractured as the cohesion was lost thanks to injuries and messy scrum formations. Northampton were increasingly being made to work for territory and possession by CURUFC, who were unfortunate not to score via Lare Erogbogbo: the substitute was floored by a massive hit on the left touchline as he looked set to break away down the blindside. 

But in the last five minutes, the game lit up again. Quality play from the Saints’ backline saw James Grayson score a try (unconverted) shortly after coming off the bench, while the scoreboard ticked over to 54–0 when Tom Emery finished off a superb solo break to score a try which Grayson converted. And, with one minute left on the clock, the replacement fly-half grabbed his second of the match from the match’s best passage of play, Toby Trinder’s world-class offload in the tackle out of the back of his hand setting him away to score and convert his own try to take the score to 61–0.

With the clock seconds from entering the red, CURUFC kicked off determined not to go away empty-handed. Camped out in the Saints’ 22, the Light Blues kept the home crowd on edge after going through over 20 phases and two penalty shouts. Time and time again, the home side’s forward pack were held back from crossing the line until, six minutes into overtime, Chris Bell powered over to go score a much-deserved try which Gillies brilliantly converted.

Referee: Ryan Smith