This year, the face-off between the Men*s Blues and the Penguins returns to its traditional spring calendar placement on Wednesday at 7:15pm. Familiar faces are sure to return to Iffley Road with former Captain and Australian international, Bill Calcraft, on the Penguins board, and former OURFC Director of Rugby, Steve Hill, coaching the striped foe.
Oxford and Cambridge Universities remain proudly the only regular fixtures in the touring Penguins’ UK fixture list. The latter are “not only the most travelled rugby club in the world, but the most travelled sports club in the world”, having toured to 75 countries at present, a number that only increases year on year. When the Penguins visited ten years ago, in March 2015, their tally stood at 67 countries, and we look forward to watching our relationship with the Penguins grow parallel to the list of countries hosting them.
Ten years ago saw a narrow loss, with the Penguins edging ahead to claim the Alan Wright Cup. However, their most recent battle last season restored the silverware to its rightful home in the Ricoh Room under the stands. That game, closing at 43-7 to the Blues, saw the debut of several players who have become staples in the Blues line up this season, including back rows Otis Walker (first start) and Luke Newland (first Blues shirt). More seasoned players were also crucial to the victory with Blues Tom Mewes and Jack Hamilton both flying across the line to add to the score line, as well as Captain Luke Wyllie.
The Penguins will look to come back fighting to claim the Cup, named after co-founder and Life President, Alan Wright. In 1959, Wright and Tony Mason founded the club after playing together at Sidcup RFC, aiming to encourage and facilitate the development of Rugby Union across the world. The club coaches abroad as well as playing, aiming to increase the number and quality of players wherever they visit. We hope that their presence at Iffley Road on Wednesday will encourage the Blues to bring out some of their best rugby on the road to Varsity. We hope to see you in the stands cheering on the Dark Blues as they return to their home kit after last week’s foray into white in their last fixture before the big day.
Please find tickets for Wednesday here and Varsity tickets here or email admin@ourfc.org to discuss group bookings.
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