Cambridge 70 – 0 Nottingham 2’s

The women’s Blues are on such good form that they are probably the most successful team in the University. This time the Blues managed to keep 90% of possession, put seventy points on their opposition with no reply, and what’s more, they were resting more than half of their starting team. Despite the name, Nottingham 2’s are not a second team either; Nottingham just have two campuses and two teams of equal standard.

In true Cambridge style tries came from all areas of the field, opened by No. 8 and captain Talia Gershon who claimed that this “set the tone that would stay throughout the match.” Human battering-ram and all round try scoring machine Laura Britton lived up to her reputation and picked up a handful of tries from her position at outside centre, earning her the player-of-the-match award in the process. Playing behind a set of forwards who are dominating their opposition pack is a gift for a scrum-half and this helped starting 9 Sammy Graham and her replacement Bob Turner find tries of their own. With the tries still flooding in, from both prop and winger alike, Cambridge were unstoppable. The Blues’ point-scoring habit was aided too by full-back Kate Robson, who added another ten points with her boot, scoring five conversions.

This game lost its competitive element early on when it was obvious that Nottingham were not even challenging for the match. However, as well as the excitement of seeing a dozen tries, there was a different competitive element; the fight for a place in the Cambridge team. Good depth in the squad means games like this allow the reserves to prove their worth and claim a place in the starting line-up. With the reserves playing at such a high level, selection for the Varsity match on March 6th will be fierce, and the players only have a few games to go in which to cement their selection. The match is taking place in Oxford but there will be a supporters coach going from Cambridge if you want to catch Cambridge’s most successful team in their most competitive match.