When the curtain finally falls on Cambridge’s Varsity campaign at around 3.45pm on December 6th, Rob Malaney’s young and exciting Blues squad will haul their battered and bruised bodies off the fabled Twickenham turf, making the short trip up the stone steps of the West stand with only one objective in mind: lifting the trophy that has eluded them for the past two years.

Following last year's disappointing 28-10 reverse, Cambridge have undergone a major squad upheaval, with only six of last year's Blues expected to feature on the pitch this time around. One of those hardened Varsity veterans is lock forward and double-blue Scott Annett, who (following his 50th appearance for the Blues earlier in the season) hailed the impact of ‘fantastic’ head coach James Shanahan and the fresh influx of post-graduate students, in propagating a strong winning mentality into the side.

This strength of character is crucial to establishing the momentum necessary to a successful Varsity crusade, and a glance at the form guide suggests that Annett’s words have been translated onto the pitch. An impressive string of results (most notably a dramatic last minute victory against a strong Crawshay’s side, and a ruthless 41-8 demolition of Blackheath RFC) places the Light Blues in the somewhat unfamiliar position of match favourites. Their long-standing rivals, by contrast, have struggled to find form this season, losing six out of their first seven games and registering only 56 points in the process. Any complacency amongst Malaney’s men will, however, have been admonished from the system on witnessing the Dark Blues romp to their first success of the season against Major Stanley’s XV last Wednesday. Of particular concern will be the pace of scrum-half turned full-back Samson Egerton, and the power of gargantuan John-Henry Carter, who skippers Oxford for the 2nd year in succession. 

So who will feature in the starting XV when the kick-off whistle is sounded? Half-backs Sebastian Tullie and Andrew Abraham have been outstanding all season, and (barring injury in the final warm-up game against Bristol) will surely line up at 9 and 10. Dugal Bain, an Australian post-graduate, is joint top try scorer this year; Danny Holmes and Seb Foster will battle it out to partner him in the centres. Will Smith’s electric pace on the blind-side wing will see him claim the Number 11 jersey, with Andrew Murdoch and Ilia Cherezov looking to occupy the other wing. A mid-season shoulder injury to Koujiro Tambara brings Rob Stephen (the 2011 U21 full-back) and Kristian Cook (a winner of BUCS with Loughborough() into direct contention to start at 15. Captain Rob Malaney leads the pack, assisted by Hugo Kelly and Matthew Steele in the back-row. Nate Brakely will join Scott Annett in a formidably powerful second-row, and Will Briggs, Paul Mallaband and Stu Brown make up a front-row with a combined weight of 50st.

The anticipation is nearly over, and the weight of expectation on Cambridge to lift the coveted MMC trophy on December 6th is vast. Given their excellent preparation and performances in the past weeks, they have every reason to go into the game brimming with confidence, for what should be a festival of high-quality rugby.