Battle of the ages as Cambridge look to end losing run

The Cambridge centre Jason Wright and the Oxford flanker Ben Durham will have one thing in common when they step out on opposite sides in the 121st Varsity Match at Twickenham this afternoon.

Both will be winning their first Blues. But it is their differences which hold more interest. While Wright is a world weary old pro, who has played the rugby money game for Richmond, Treviso and latterly London Irish, Durham has yet to play for the Gloucester first team.

At 33 the New Zealander Wright is one of the oldest players to turn out in this fixture. The Canada hooker, Karl Svoboda, at the age of 35, was the oldest to win his Blue for Oxford in 1995. Durham will not be 20 until later this month.

While Durham's career is just beginning, Wright's is winding down – been there, done all that, the T-shirt has holes in it and the video is a Betamax. He was one of the shell-shocked players who witnessed at first hand the closure of a professional club when Richmond went under four years ago.

"A lot of people were bruised by that Richmond experience, I think everyone felt very bitter at the way the club fell out of professionalism. It was very disappointing for everyone involved, but obviously we had to move on. A lot of people went to all parts of the world to continue playing their rugby." Which he did, until last year when: "I felt that I had done all I could do. I wanted to move on to another challenge." And apart from what the Light Blues are confronted by today, ending a serious three-game winning run by Oxford, Wright has to wrestle with the age-old sporting student's problem, juggling work and play.

And Durham is no different. "Oxford is still essentially an amateur club and you do see a difference in approach when you compare it with Gloucester, but the thing is, when you are studying for a degree it is difficult to combine work with training two or three times a day.

"I think I have managed to find a balance. It is about time management. Academic work expands into whatever time there is. So having other stuff to do, such as training for a sport, makes you better at managing the time, you get into a rhythm and it is amazing what you can get done in a day. As long as you resist the temptation to watch television or mess around with play stations, there is plenty of time." But only 80 minutes of 2002 for Oxford to string together a run of four wins. And Cambridge are very determined to stop that run in its tracks. Although for Wright, it is not merely victory that matters.

He wants Cambridge to win, of course, but he wants them to do so in style. "There is a real desire on the Cambridge side to play some rugby," he said. "In the last few years Varsity matches have not been great encounters and there is an intent on our part to try to play rugby. It is not only for the sake of the game, but also for the spectators."

Tony Rogers, the Cambridge coach, now in his 23rd year planning and plotting Light Blues' stratagems admitted: "This is the worst run in my time as coach, but we are pretty determined to end it." And the reason for his optimism? "We have the best back row we have had since 1998." The last time a Light Blue captain got his hands on the trophy.

Oxford's director of rugby is Steve Hill. A relative newcomer on the coaching front, this is just his seventh year in charge. He is confident that Dark will prevail over Light. "I was appointed in 1996," he said. "It took me three years to turn things around, but we have now won 10 out of 12 meetings since then."

Hill admitted: "Cambridge have a strong unit. But our boys will relish the challenge." If they can only produce some quality rugby, so will the 50,000 or so gathered at Twickenham.

VARSITY TEAMS

At Twickenham Kick-off 2pm (live on Sky Sports One)

OXFORD UNIVERSITY: T Barlow (St Anne's); W Rubie* (Brasenose), J Allen (University), A Willet (Merton), S Douglas (Merton); M Honeyben (Pembroke), D Taberner (Worcester); K Tkachuk* (Kellogg), D Griffiths (St Edmund Hall), H Nwume* (University), A Russell* (Magdalen), C Edwards* (Balliol), F Gemmell* (St Catherine's, capt), B Durham (Keble), D Lubans (St Anne's). Replacements: D G Hughes (Jesus), O R Julyan* (Keble), R Sugden (Greyfriars Hall), R Woods (St Anne's), G H Barr (St Cross), J M R Fennell (Pembroke), K Dixon (St Cross).

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY: A Newmarch* (St Edmunds); S Kingsbury (Corpus Christi), S Frost (Hughes Hall), J Wright (St Edmund's), A Abiola (St Catharine's); O Edwards (Hughes Hall), B Dormer (St Edmund's); R Bosch* (Hughes Hall), C Collins* (Fitzwilliam), J Reilly (Fitzwilliam), G Webster (St Edmund's), M Purdy* (Fitzwilliam), O Scrimgeour (Fitzwilliam), D Blaikie* (Hughes Hall, capt), S Eru (St Edmund's). Replacements: P Jenkins (St John's), D McGrath (St Edmund's), G M Forde (Hughes Hall), A F Gladstone (St Edmund's), J R Meredith* (Wolfson), M W Hocken (Hughes Hall), R T Girvan (St Catharine's).

* Denotes Blue

Referee: A Spreadbury (Keynsham)