Given the current lack of sports at Cambridge, we at Varsity thought it might be an opportune moment to take a look back at our sporting history and have a think about our long-standing rivalry with O*ford. We all know that the annual Varsity games are a big deal, but how much do you actually know? Let’s find out!

All the answers are at the bottom to check your results.

Questions

1. How many different sports compete in an annual Varsity match/competition?

2. The Blues teams are often filled with top-class athletes, but how many international players have competed for Cambridge in the Varsity Rugby Match since its inception?

3. When was the first Women’s Varsity competition?

4. The Varsity Football Match was first played in 1873. How many total goals have been scored in the annual games since then?

5. Who currently leads on overall Rugby Union Wins? And by how much?

6. Where is the Boat Race usually held?

7. Who currently leads on overall Lawn Tennis wins? And by how much?

8. How many people attended the Boat Race in the record-holding year, 2009?

9. In which sport was the first Varsity match contested?

10. In which year was the Boat Race first televised?

Answers

1. 62. These range from the classics (Rugby, Football, Rowing) to the niche (Real Tennis, Gliding and Kendo)

2. 325. These range from international captains like Rob Andrew and James Horwill, to World Cup winners like David Kirk, to youth team appearances

3. 1927. The women’s boat race was held on the River Isis

4. 413. These are split almost exactly in half, with Cambridge having scored a total of 205 and Oxford 208

5. Cambridge (but only by 64-60 over the course of almost 150 years)

6. The Thames (between Putney and Chiswick Bridge)

7. Cambridge. By 123 to 72!

8. 270,000

9. Cricket. The first ‘University Match’ was contested in 1827 at Lord’s

10. 1938. It was covered by the BBC, following radio coverage since 1927

Some of these were pretty hard, so well done if you got more than five exactly correct answers. Hopefully you got close with some and, if you didn’t, at least now you know more about our sporting history.