They had been quietly confident. Captain Nikki Weckman had felt from weeks ago that her young, raw and talented squad were capable of beating Oxford on the Twickenham stage. In the end, the game proved even beyond the Canadian’s wildest dreams.

On an historic day for women’s rugby, the Varsity Match for the women was staged, alongside that of the men, at Twickenham for the very first time, twenty eight years after the inaugural women’s fixture. And goodness did Cambridge mark such an occasion with a bang.

To be precise, the 52-0 result represented the highest ever margin of victory in a Women’s Varsity match, something Middleton described afterwards as the stuff of fantasy:

“52-0 is a dream…I’m so proud of every player, they left everything out on the pitch.”

That aforementioned ‘bang’ did take around fifteen minutes to arrive, though. A scrappy opening quarter reflected understandable nerves amongst the players from both sides, yet Cambridge began to settle the quickest, and were soon on the scoreboard.

A series of pick-and-goes from ten metres out left Cambridge ideally placed to score, with Lucy Cavendish’s Alice Middleton providing the finish. Little did she know this would turn out to be a memorable day for her.

Hat-trick hero Middleton later described the experience of playing at Twickenham as “surreal,” yet equally “fantastic for women’s participation…hopefully leading to more girls at the university wanting to be a part of it.” After this performance, surely they will be queuing up at the doors of Grange Road!

The second try of a dominant yet low-key first half for Cambridge came through right-wing Lara Gibson, whose blinding pace proved too much once the ball was spread out wide. From that point on, Cambridge registering an eleventh win in twenty-nine editions of the Women’s Varsity Match was never really in doubt.

Chloe Withers dived over for the Light Blues shortly after the break to add to the score, before Middleton stole a yard to record her second of the afternoon, taking her personal tally to sixteen points in the process. Oxford were beaten.

The afternoon was still young for twenty-three year-old centre Anna Wilson, however. Moved to the centres for this game, the tactic paid off, as she brutally exploited the tiring Oxford defence to run in a hat-trick of second half tries, the most notable of which came from forty metres, simply steamrolling through the brittle Oxford midfield.

If anything pleased Middleton, it was the fact that Cambridge did not allow Oxford to score in the game. Perhaps 52 points was uninspiring compared to the 117 they put past the University of South Wales in early December!

“I was so pleased for our defence…that zero means so much and was important…now it’s about taking the momentum and continuing to move forward.”

There was still time for Middleton to score her own third, and to claim the Player of the Match award in the Twickenham showpiece. With no real right to score from halfway, the fullback did just that, with a delectable hand-off being followed by a surge and dive over down the left.

The growing Cambridge-supporting crowd celebrated, the Dark Blue voices away to the left of the commentary box had long since faded.

Teams: Cambridge: Middleton (Lucy Cavendish); Gibson (Lucy Cavendish), McNally (St Edmund's), Wilson (Jesus), Reid (Jesus); Donaldson (Clare), Thorn (Corpus Christi); Scott (Pembroke), Charlton (Newnham), Banner (Girton), Nunez-Mulder (Emmanuel), Weckman (capt, Trinity), Elgar (Girton), Withers, (Fitzwilliam) Cooper (Fitzwilliam).

Replacements: Donegan (Girton), Sutcliffe (Murray Edwards), Edgerley (Homerton), Bateman (Churchill), Randall (Sidney Sussex), Probert (Downing), Britton (Jesus), Farrant Emmanuel).

Oxford: Trott (Wadham); Potts (Exeter), Stone (Hertford), Copley (Keble), Grant (Exeter); C Wilcock (Wadham), Bliss (capt, St Edmund Hall); Behan (St Edmund Hall), Bidgood (University College), Peker (St John's), Robinson (Keble), Van Heerden (Lady Margaret Hall), Willett (St Hilda's), O'Connell (St Anne's), Van Der Grient (Green Templeton).

Replacements: Kempner (Pembroke), Oyesanya (Christ Church), Lamb (Trinity), Taylor (St Hilda's), McArdle (Green Templeton), Harrap (Green Templeton), Lamont (St Anne's), Duffy (Oriel), R Wilcock (Exeter).

Ref: Sarah Cox (RFU).