The afternoon of the 5th of October witnessed two extraordinary showdowns at Ellgia Fields, with the opposing women’s teams facing off first. The crowd created a great atmosphere, with a real buzz and competitive spirit in the air as kick-off inched ever closer. The new patron of town club CRFUC Lord Archer could barely conceal his contempt for the University team as he quipped “I hope you lose one hundred to nil”.

The women’s game was in reality though a very even affair. The University team pushed hard in the first forty minutes with the game mainly being played in CRUFC’s half of the pitch. As a result by the thirty seventh minute, the university were 12-0 up following some excellent tries. The situation did begin to deteriorate though for the university women, with a late charge in the first half resulting in the score being 12-5 at the break.

“The Blues played excellently in the first half and continued to show incredible grit”

The half-time team talk from the CRUFC coach must have been akin to a Churchill war speech, with the women in red racing out of the gates at the start of the second half, scoring a try just four minutes in. The first ten minutes of the second half were captivating, with the speed of the game whipping up the crowd and adding a new level of excitement. The excitement, though, was mainly one-sided with the score by minute sixty making grim reading for the university fans: CRUFC were now beating the university 15-12.

CRUFC did not rest on their laurels and continued to fight hard, scoring another try five minutes before the end. The game ultimately ended 20-12 to CRUFC with the scoreline not doing the university women justice. The Blues played excellently in the first half and continued to show incredible grit and determination in the second half. In the end though, CRUFC ratcheted up their level in the second half of their game and despite the Blues’ best efforts, they were unable to deal with the sheer firepower of the women in red.

The men’s affair was a slightly different encounter with the 1923s comprehensively beating the Men’s Blues 44-14. However the scoreline does not reflect the excellent start the Men’s Blues had to the game, scoring the first try and appearing to be very dominant. As the game progressed though, they suffered a similar fate to the Women’s Blues and were ultimately overpowered.

“At times throughout the game, the rugby was a bit of a sideshow”

The tension levels were also incomparable to the women’s game, with a yellow card in the first minute setting the tone for a heated encounter between the Cantabrigians. At times throughout the game, the rugby was a bit of a sideshow – with a red card being awarded at the end of the first half to the 1923s following an alleged strangulation attempt.

After this though, the temperature cooled, with Shrimpton admirably turning the other cheek despite the 1923s’ attempts to provoke him. Special mentions have to go to Nathan Bottomley on the Blues team and Taitusi Qaniuci who played excellently. Overall, both games were hard-fought contests with all sides, for the most part, displaying outstanding sportsmanship and some excellent skills as well.

The event itself was also a major triumph, drawing in a huge crowd for a good-natured afternoon of sport. After the game,  Lord Archer summarised the afternoon simply but accurately by nodding and saying ‘good show’.