Rugby League Varsity Match

The Rugby League Varsity Match is an annual rugby league match between Cambridge University and Oxford University. It is currently played at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, England, usually in the first week of March.

The first Oxford versus Cambridge University match took place in 1981. The varsity match has discretionary full blue status. The two teams play for the KJ Lee Trophy which was donated by the father of a former Oxford player.

The Varsity Match was one of only three varsity events to be televised and was shown live on Sky Sports between 2004 and 2011. The fixture has been sponsored by Pcubed since 1998.

The first university rugby league game was between Leeds and Liverpool in 1968. A year later the Universities and Colleges Rugby League was formed after student pioneers fought hard to get the sport recognised in higher education.

A chance conversation between three Oxford students on a train to Wales to see the touring Australians defeat Wales sowed the seed of rugby league at Oxford, less than two years' later the first-ever Oxford club side, Oxford Sharks, an even mix of students and locals, took to a rented council pitch to play Peckham.

By the end of the 1976 season, they had won university recognition and were able to rename themselves Oxford University Rugby League Club, only the second-ever student team in the south of England.

Cambridge University Amateur Rugby League Football Club was formed in November 1980 by Dick McConnel, a former New Zealand Student International. Their first game took place on 2 December 1980 against Reading University which they lost 40–2. McConnell subsequently became a senior academic at St Johns College, Cambridge, and remains the club’s Senior Treasurer.

The first Varsity match took place on Sunday 26 April 1981 at Craven Cottage, Oxford winning 16–9 in front of a crowd of over 800. The Oxford team was captained by Tim Muff and club President was Keith Lawson. The well known professional referee Mick Naughton took charge. The game was played two weeks later than originally scheduled due to a flooded pitch. This caused a problem in the Oxford camp as two regulars were forced to return to their native USA before the match. Two players, Pat Wall and Joe Horsley consequently made their rugby league debut in the rearranged fixture.

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