The 1889 Oxford University Rugby Union Varsity Match team
The University of Oxford RFC was founded in 1869, fifteen months before the creation of the Rugby Football Union. The first Varsity Match was played in February 1872 in Oxford at 'The Parks', the following year the return game was played in Cambridge on Parker's Piece. In 1874 it was decided that the game be played on a neutral ground. Oxford, like rivals Cambridge, have supplied hundreds of players to national teams, and was key in spreading the sport of rugby throughout Britain as past students brought the game back to their home counties. The very first international player to be capped whilst at Oxford was Cecil Boyle, who represented England in 1873, one season before Cambridge University. In 1951 OURFC became the first Western rugby team to tour Japan after World War II.[4]
OURFC currently has 3 Men's teams: 1st XV Blues, 2nd XV Greyhounds and 3rd XV Whippets. All three teams play Varsity matches against their respective Cambridge opponents. Additionally, there is also a Men's U20s squad which contest their own Varsity Match alongside the Women's 2nd XV.[4]
1906 joint team photo of Oxford University RFC and the South African national rugby union team
Major R. V. Stanley was an Oxford local who took a hearty interest in the development of OURFC, becoming its first representative on the RFU Committee 1903–27. The first recorded Stanley's Match took place in 1919, after the 1914 match was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I. An invitational squad, similar to the Barbarians, the Major Stanley's XV historically drew in big name players such as Thomas Voyce and William Wavell Wakefield. Major Stanley's Match is an annual fixture played in preparation of the Varsity Match and recent Stanley's XVs have included Cardiff RFC.[6] In 2019, the centenary year of the first Major Stanley's fixture, the Women's Blues faced the first ever Major Stanley's Women's XV.[7]
Women's teamedit
Sue Day (St. John's) as England Captain in 2007
Oxford University WRFC was founded in 1988 and has been playing Cambridge University WRUFC annually since. The first women's Varsity was won by Cambridge; Oxford currently have 20 Varsity victories to Cambridge's 13. Notable players include Sue Day (St John's), who has won 59 England caps.[8]
As of May 2015, Oxford University RFC and Oxford University WRFC have officially merged into one University RFC.[4] 2015 also marked the first year that the women's Varsity Match was held at Twickenham on the same day as the men's game. OURFC Women's 1st XV compete in BUCS Premiership South.[9]
^"Hats off to the Wallabies". BBC Sport. 5 November 2001.
^"Men's Rugby Union". Oxford University Sport. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^"Women's Rugby Union". Oxford University Sport. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^ abc"Oxford University RFC | About". Oxford University RFC. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^"Oxford University RFC | Stanleys Match". Oxford University RFC. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^"Men's Blues Squad Announced to Face Cardiff in the Major Stanley's Match". Oxford University RFC. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^"Oxford University RFC | Stanleys Match". www.ourfc.org. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
^"International Women's Day 2019". Oxford University Sport. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^"BUCScore - Oxford University Womens 1st Rugby Union Team". BUCS. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^"Oxford University RFC | News". Oxford University RFC. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^"Oxford University RFC | Internationals". Oxford University RFC. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^Godwin, Terry; John M. Jenkins (1987). Complete Who's Who of International Rugby. Poole: Blandford Press. pp. 127–128. ISBN0-7137-1838-2.
^"Faces in the Crowd," Sports Illustrated, 27 January 1975. Retrieved 8 December 2020
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oxford University RFC.
Official website
The Varsity Match
January 01, 1970
oxford, university, confused, with, oxford, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books,. Not to be confused with Oxford R F C This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Oxford University RFC news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Oxford University Rugby Football Club Oxford University RFC or OURFC is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford 2 3 The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham Oxford University RFCFull nameOxford University Rugby Football ClubNickname s BluesFounded1869 155 years ago 1869 LocationOxford EnglandGround s Iffley Road Capacity 5 500 1 Captain s Louis Jackson amp Jessica AbeleTeam kitOfficial websiteourfc wbr org Contents 1 History 1 1 Men s team 1 1 1 Major Stanley s Match 5 1 2 Women s team 2 Honours 3 Notable former players 3 1 England internationals 3 2 Wales internationals 3 3 Scotland internationals 3 4 Ireland internationals 3 5 Other nationalities 4 References 5 External linksHistory editMen s team edit nbsp The 1889 Oxford University Rugby Union Varsity Match team The University of Oxford RFC was founded in 1869 fifteen months before the creation of the Rugby Football Union The first Varsity Match was played in February 1872 in Oxford at The Parks the following year the return game was played in Cambridge on Parker s Piece In 1874 it was decided that the game be played on a neutral ground Oxford like rivals Cambridge have supplied hundreds of players to national teams and was key in spreading the sport of rugby throughout Britain as past students brought the game back to their home counties The very first international player to be capped whilst at Oxford was Cecil Boyle who represented England in 1873 one season before Cambridge University In 1951 OURFC became the first Western rugby team to tour Japan after World War II 4 OURFC currently has 3 Men s teams 1st XV Blues 2nd XV Greyhounds and 3rd XV Whippets All three teams play Varsity matches against their respective Cambridge opponents Additionally there is also a Men s U20s squad which contest their own Varsity Match alongside the Women s 2nd XV 4 Major Stanley s Match 5 edit nbsp 1906 joint team photo of Oxford University RFC and the South African national rugby union team Major R V Stanley was an Oxford local who took a hearty interest in the development of OURFC becoming its first representative on the RFU Committee 1903 27 The first recorded Stanley s Match took place in 1919 after the 1914 match was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I An invitational squad similar to the Barbarians the Major Stanley s XV historically drew in big name players such as Thomas Voyce and William Wavell Wakefield Major Stanley s Match is an annual fixture played in preparation of the Varsity Match and recent Stanley s XVs have included Cardiff RFC 6 In 2019 the centenary year of the first Major Stanley s fixture the Women s Blues faced the first ever Major Stanley s Women s XV 7 Women s team edit nbsp Sue Day St John s as England Captain in 2007 Oxford University WRFC was founded in 1988 and has been playing Cambridge University WRUFC annually since The first women s Varsity was won by Cambridge Oxford currently have 20 Varsity victories to Cambridge s 13 Notable players include Sue Day St John s who has won 59 England caps 8 As of May 2015 Oxford University RFC and Oxford University WRFC have officially merged into one University RFC 4 2015 also marked the first year that the women s Varsity Match was held at Twickenham on the same day as the men s game OURFC Women s 1st XV compete in BUCS Premiership South 9 Honours editHawick Sevens Champions 1 1925 Oxford University Greyhounds Oxfordshire RFU County Cup winners 1976 citation needed Oxford University Women s Blues BUCS Vase Champions 2017 citation needed BUCS Vase Runners Up 2019 10 Notable former players editSee also Category Oxford University RFC playersOxford University RFC has fielded over 300 international rugby players many of whom were first Capped during their time playing for the club 11 England internationals edit The following former Oxford University players have represented England at full international level nbsp Stuart Barnes nbsp Ernest Cheston nbsp Edward Fraser nbsp Phil de Glanville nbsp Simon Halliday nbsp Alexander Sergeevich Obolensky nbsp Alan Rotherham IRB Hall of Fame inductee nbsp Richard Sharp nbsp Victor Ubogu nbsp Derek Wyatt Wales internationals edit The following former Oxford University players have represented Wales at full international level nbsp Gareth Baber nbsp Onllwyn Brace nbsp Ian Buckett nbsp Gareth Davies nbsp David Evans nbsp Walter Rice Evans nbsp Gwyn Francis nbsp Billy Geen nbsp Vivian Jenkins nbsp Conway Rees nbsp John Strand Jones nbsp Will Rowlands Scotland internationals edit The following former Oxford University players have represented Scotland at full international level nbsp George Aitken nbsp David McLaren Bain nbsp John Bannerman nbsp David Bell nbsp William Berkley nbsp Charles Berry nbsp William Bolton nbsp John Boswell nbsp Fletcher Buchanan nbsp Pat Burnet nbsp Alexander Cairns nbsp George Cawkwell nbsp Paul Clauss nbsp Mac Cooper nbsp Ian Coutts nbsp Jack Crabbie nbsp Gerard Crole nbsp George Cunningham nbsp Simon Danielli nbsp Hamish Dawson nbsp Maurice Dickson nbsp Grahame Donald nbsp Bill Donaldson nbsp Dan Drysdale 12 nbsp Denoon Duncan nbsp Ewen Fergusson nbsp Charles Fleming nbsp Hector Forsayth nbsp Henry Gedge nbsp Augustus Grant Asher nbsp Charles Grieve nbsp Thomas Hart nbsp Chick Henderson nbsp Nelson Henderson nbsp Gurth Hoyer Millar nbsp Kenneth Jackson nbsp Norman Kennedy nbsp Peter Kininmonth nbsp George Campbell Lindsay nbsp Bertie Lorraine nbsp Eric Loudoun Shand nbsp Donald MacDonald nbsp Chris Mackintosh nbsp Pat MacLachlan nbsp John Marshall nbsp Patrick Munro nbsp Thomas Arthur Nelson nbsp William Renwick nbsp William Roughead nbsp Douglas Schulze nbsp Tennant Sloan nbsp Allan Smith nbsp Ian Smith nbsp Ken Spence nbsp Peter Stagg nbsp Stephen Steyn nbsp Malcolm Swan nbsp Edward Taylor nbsp Frans ten Bos nbsp Bruce Thomson nbsp William Thomson nbsp Frederick Harding Turner nbsp nbsp Johnnie Wallace nbsp Archibald Walker nbsp James Walker nbsp Mike Walker nbsp David Whyte nbsp Stewart Wilson nbsp Eric Templeton Young Ireland internationals edit The following former Oxford University players have represented Ireland at full international level nbsp David Humphreys nbsp Niall Malone nbsp nbsp Brian Smith Other nationalities edit nbsp Raymond Burse 13 nbsp Bill Calcraft nbsp Nick Civetta nbsp Troy Coker nbsp Philip Crowe nbsp Andrew Durutalo nbsp Bob Egerton nbsp Eric Fry nbsp Thomas Gubb nbsp Toshiyuki Hayashi nbsp Gary Hein nbsp David Kirk nbsp Nick Mallett nbsp Stan McKeen nbsp Katsuhiko Oku nbsp Anton Oliver nbsp Gareth Rees IRB Hall of Fame inductee nbsp Joe Roff nbsp nbsp Brian Smith nbsp Kevin Tkachuk nbsp nbsp Johnnie WallaceReferences edit Hats off to the Wallabies BBC Sport 5 November 2001 Men s Rugby Union Oxford University Sport Retrieved 28 March 2019 Women s Rugby Union Oxford University Sport Retrieved 28 March 2019 a b c Oxford University RFC About Oxford University RFC Retrieved 28 March 2019 Oxford University RFC Stanleys Match Oxford University RFC Retrieved 28 March 2019 Men s Blues Squad Announced to Face Cardiff in the Major Stanley s Match Oxford University RFC 13 November 2018 Retrieved 28 March 2019 Oxford University RFC Stanleys Match www ourfc org Retrieved 27 February 2020 International Women s Day 2019 Oxford University Sport 8 March 2019 Retrieved 28 March 2019 BUCScore Oxford University Womens 1st Rugby Union Team BUCS Retrieved 28 March 2019 Oxford University RFC News Oxford University RFC 27 March 2019 Retrieved 28 March 2019 Oxford University RFC Internationals Oxford University RFC Retrieved 28 March 2019 Godwin Terry John M Jenkins 1987 Complete Who s Who of International Rugby Poole Blandford Press pp 127 128 ISBN 0 7137 1838 2 Faces in the Crowd Sports Illustrated 27 January 1975 Retrieved 8 December 2020External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oxford University RFC Official website nbsp The Varsity Match Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Oxford University RFC amp oldid 1220920272, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
