Written by Lilla Berry (Blue #412)
As the 2025 Varsity Matches draw near and preparations are ramping up, the coming weeks present us with the perfect opportunity to reflect, both as a club and as individuals. Varsity is at the heart of Oxbridge rugby; it reminds us of our community and invites us to truly consider what it means to be a Dark Blue. A crucial part of looking forward to Varsity is therefore the act of looking back - of delving into the history of the club and remembering the steps taken by players before us that have led us to where we stand today. OURFC is brimming with the stories of individuals who have shaped the club into the community we know and love.
This year, none of these stories are more relevant than the tale of Women’s Rugby at Oxford University, which began with the formation of OUWRFC. Whilst in 2025, the Men*s and Women*s sides celebrate 10 years of belonging to one Club, of course, it has not always been this way. In fact, OUWRFC had been running as an independent and successful entity for nearly 30 years before the clubs merged, and their collective efforts laid the foundation for the team as it stands now. When the Men’s inaugural Varsity Match took place in 1872, it would be more than 100 years until the Women first faced Cambridge, in March 1988. Last week I had the wonderful opportunity and honour to speak to the first Women’s Captain and Founder of OUWRFC, Heather Bunting (now Lawrence), where I learnt the remarkable story of how the Women’s Varsity Match finally came to be.
The establishment of women’s rugby in the UK began to take shape in the late 1970s. The Women’s RFU was set up in 1983, which was very soon after Bunting arrived in Oxford. She matriculated in 1981 to study Chemistry at St. Catherine’s College before pursuing a D. Phil at St. Hugh’s College. A natural athlete, she earned her first half-blue in karate in 1986 and then captained the team in 1987. Her interest in rugby took flight when she saw a poster for the Oxford Old Boys Rugby Club, which was recruiting female players. She joined, learnt the game, and eventually competed in tournaments across the country with the Old Boys, or ‘Old Belles’ as they called themselves. It was not long before Bunting decided it was high time to establish a university side, which at that point did not exist. In doing so, she set out to recruit players by approaching the women spectators at the Men’s Blues matches and asking them if they would be keen on playing themselves. She later gained more students at the 1987 Michaelmas Freshers’ Fair.
When asked if it was difficult getting women involved, Bunting responded that mostly it wasn’t - those who were interested immediately enjoyed the game and committed their time to it. Training sessions at the University Parks became a regular fixture; Bunting recalled that “the forwards just loved it”, as well as their winger Anna Spash’s delight at being “allowed” to go out and get “covered in mud”. She also detailed spending hours in the Parks practising kicking over the posts with Clare Campbell-Smith, who would go on to start as fly-half for Oxford and convert the team’s first Varsity try. These were the early days of OUWRFC, but momentum was already building. Big things lay ahead for this team.
Bunting’s plan to organise a Varsity Match advanced with a chance conversation in a pub in Cambridge in April 1987. After having agreed to drive a group of cricketers to the Other Place for a game, she found the topic had turned to women’s rugby. It happened that Cambridge University had female players of their own, one of whom was promptly summoned to the pub to meet with Bunting. Planting the seed for the rivalry that would soon take shape, the two got to talking, and it was decided that their budding sides would play each other for the first time in history.
This, however, was easier said than done, and the two teams faced many challenges. When and where would they play? What kit would they wear? How would they get the support they needed? OURFC was not obstructive, Bunting said, though she did remark that she never asked for anything she knew she wouldn’t get. The growing Oxford Women’s team did not disrupt the men’s schedule by training at Iffley; all they requested was that the match be played there, CURUFC not yet allowing a women’s game to take place at Grange Road. OURFC obliged, and then the rest was almost all done by their own hand.
To this end, Bunting and her team dedicated hours to fundraising, creating and distributing leaflets, and of course, training. And then there was a question of kit. It was finally decided that the Oxford side were to play in the Men’s 2nd team shirts, because they were slightly smaller than the Blues’ kit, and still Dark Blue. The Cambridge women had been denied access to kit by CURUFC, and had to look elsewhere. They instead donned red and blue striped jerseys that the father of their captain, Sophia Pegers (now Mirchandani) had managed to get sponsored by Kent and Curwen.
Meanwhile, a series of hand-written correspondence unfolded between Bunting and the Cambridge secretary as they worked to finalise a match date, a series of exchanges which saw the clubs and committees begin to take shape alongside the playing squads. Originally, they aimed for a December fixture to align with the men’s game, though ultimately Cambridge requested a later date, claiming that they would not be ready by then. Eventually, the two teams came to an agreement: the women’s inaugural Varsity Match would be held on the 10th March 1988 at Iffley Road. It would take place on a Thursday afternoon, so as not to disrupt the men’s training sessions on a Wednesday and Friday.
Bunting eagerly described a distinct memory from that day. She remembered very clearly feeling a combined sense of relief and excitement when the Cambridge bus actually pulled into Iffley Road that morning, their women and coach on board. “I remember thinking ‘This is it, this is actually going to happen.’”. And so it did.
Cambridge were the first to make it over the line, with a try from their winger, Barbara Skelly. Soon, her Oxford opponent Anna Spash would make an excellent interception on the wing to equalise for Oxford, which was described by the Oxford Mail as a “try that would have graced any match”. This was converted by fly-half Campbell-Smith. After an 80-minute battle, the game resulted in a narrow victory for Cambridge, who won with 8 points to 6, sealed by a last-minute try from a scrum on the 5-metre line, touched down by their flanker and captain, Sophia Pegers.
The event was a triumph, generating a small crowd and even some press. David Hands, rugby correspondent for The Times had attended the game, and wrote a feature that appeared in the paper the next day. Recognising the historical importance of the first women’s rugby match between the two universities, Hands wrote “They worked hard to organise it, they worked even harder during it and both sides and their coaches (male) deserve immense credit for an afternoon spilling over with enthusiasm”.
Bunting recalled that there was a fair amount of discourse at the time, some kind, some less so. The team paid little attention: “We just thought that the most important thing was to play the game.” A game that was new to them, but evidently very exciting, and one that they continued to pursue despite all its challenges. Bunting observed that because of the extra effort they had to put in the players gave up almost all of their free time to play rugby; but they did so for good reason. She explained that amongst all the hard work, the critics, and the commentary surrounding the women’s game, one thing persisted beyond the noise: joy. This was a word that the former captain kept coming back to. For Bunting, it was a “joy” to play, a ”joy” to watch the women’s game grow in the years that followed, as it is a “joy” to frequently return to Oxford and see the women’s team thriving today.
This is a feeling that has cascaded down generations. Though we still live in a world where women’s rugby faces discrimination, it is joy that brings us to training, and that motivates us to support one another. Our love of the game rises beyond its adversity. The article in the Oxford Mail wrote in 1988: “In sporting fashion, both teams cheered and applauded each other off the pitch. Heather [Bunting] said that was the nice thing about women’s rugby.”
This joy is something that all of us share. The women of Oxford and Cambridge are part of an ancient rivalry that is also uniquely bonded. These historically opposing teams are brought together by our proud history of determined women. It is something that cannot be undone, no matter the scoreline. The women’s game is extraordinary in this way, because every match is meaningful. Whether on a grassroots pitch or an international stage, every pass, every tackle, every try is proving the same point now as it did in 1988: it proves that women want to, can, and will play rugby.
And it is ever-expanding. Globally, female participation levels have reached an all-time high, with an estimated 2.7 million players that accounts for over a quarter of the overall playing population. Meanwhile, the Red Roses are on track to sell out stadiums for the upcoming Rugby World Cup. “I think it’s phenomenal the way [women’s rugby] has grown” Bunting told me, and added that for her there was almost a degree of incredulity with how quickly it grew. When the Women*s Blues take to the pitch at StoneX on Saturday 8th March, International Women’s Day, they will embody this growth. 37 years after its first iteration, the Women*s Varsity Match isn’t positioned according to the Men*s training schedule, but instead opens the day’s competition at the home stadium of a Premiership Side.
So while we look ahead to Varsity, the Women*s Blues of 2025 maintain the immense sense of honour that it is to be a part of this history. And as for Game Day itself, our original Captain imparts her own pre-kick off advice: “You’ve put the work in, now go and get the result” she implores the Blues. She reminds us not to let nerves get in the way of our play. “There’s only 80 minutes between you and the win.”
Ultimately, as we don our own Dark Blue jerseys and run out of the tunnel alongside our opponents, we will remember how we stand on the shoulders of the students who came before us. We will play with pride, representing those who have built our club piece by piece, to bring it to the wonderful display of women’s sport it is today.
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