On Saturday afternoon at a cool, windy Iffley Road, the Men's Blues kicked off the new year when for the second year running they hosted the England U20 side, as part of their preparations for the 2023 U20 Six Nations. In front of a full house of 2000, the Blues put in a spirited performance, particularly defensively against the England side, and whilst being on the wrong end of a 31 nil score line, Captain Tom Osborne and Head Coach James Wade will have taken many positives from the day as they continue o their journey towards the 25th March. Next up for the men will be be St Mary's College from the US on Wednesday 1st February, KO 4pm, but before then the Women's Blues return to action this Wednesday 18th January when they welcoem Cardiff University to Iffley Road, KO 6pm.
Starting XV:
1 T Osborne * (Trinity) 2 H Scoble (Kellogg) 3 M Fankah (St Peter's) 4 E O'Sullivan (Oriel) 5 E Blake * (St Hilda's) 6 P Von Dadelszen *# (St Edmund Hall) 7 J Glover (St Peter's) 8 G Hobbs (St Edmund Hall) 9 A Jackman (University) 10 H Bridgewater (Lincoln) 11 H Parker (Lincoln) 12 L Wyllie * (St Hilda's) 13 L Furniss * (Kellogg) 14 T Johnson (St John's) 15 S Reynolds * (University)
Replacements: 16 W Thornton * (Somerville) 17 N Zenios (Magdalen) 18 J McDermott (Lincoln) 19 S Dockery (St Edmund Hall) 20 J Lloyd Williams (Worcester) 21 G Fowler (St Hilda's) 22 V Faria (Exeter) 23 T Mewes (Brasenose) 24 I Baxter (Worcester)
* Denotes Blue, # denotes International
The England U20's have been in camp at Bisham Abbey since Monday and will play Loughborough University the following Saturday as their final preparation for the forthcoming Under 20 Six Nations Championship and will bring a squad of 32 players to Oxford..
There are still a limited number of tickets available to purchase in advance of Saturday, and we strongly advise that you do purchase in advance to ensure smooth entry on the day, when it will be very busy as we expect a sell-out crowd! For unreserved seats in the east stand and general ground admission please click on the link below:
https://www.tixtu.com/t/events/ourfc or email tim.stevens@sport.ox.ac.uk for reserved seats in the west stand.
The gates and bars will be open from 1pm, 2hrs prior to KO but please note that due to the recent very wet weather, we can not offer any parking in the ground for spectators. Alternatives within a 10 minute walk of the ground: pay & display in St Clement's and behind Tesco on the Cowley Road, plus Thornhill Park & Ride.
