O'Brien's sights on the double

Varsity match:Unsurprisingly, the main attraction for today's Varsity match at Twickenham is 86 times capped Wallaby winger Joe Roff but former Belvedere College schoolboy Dave O'Brien maintains a rich tradition of Irish involvement in the 125th instalment of this historic match.

The Cambridge student is the first Irishman to fill the light blue openside slot since the late Mick Doyle in 1960s - Oxford being the traditional choice for Irish players that in recent times includes internationals David Quinlan and David Humphreys.

O'Brien is familiar with this afternoon's pressure cooker environment having been part of the side that convincingly beat Oxford 31-16 last year. He was also first choice number seven on Mark McDermott's Irish under-21 side that reached the 2004 World Cup final in Scotland.

Currently in second year of a Masters in real estate finance, O'Brien played in the All-Ireland league for Clontarf last season, having previously been a member of Suttonians and Old Belvedere. He also captained Belvedere College to the 2002 senior cup final, where they were beaten 10-6 by St Mary's, before going on to lead Leinster at schools and under-21 level.

Despite the presence of the 31-year-old Roff at outside centre, Cambridge are slight favourites to achieve a 59th win - Oxford are on 52 and there has been 14 draws - with the main supply of points expected from former Wasps outhalf Johnny Ufton, playing his fourth Varsity match.

The Cambridge captain is Kiwi lock John Blaikie while Oxford are led by former London Irish scrumhalf Kevin Brennan who has represented England at sevens.

125th Varsity match Oxford University v Cambridge University, Twickenham, 2pm, Live Sky Sports 1.

Oxford: C Mahony (Wolfson); J Boto (University), J Roff (Harris Manchester), J O'Connor (Kellogg), T Tombleson (Wolfson); C McMahon (Linacre), K Brennan (Linacre, capt); O Tomaszczyk (Brasenose), W Cowie (Keble), R Matthews (Wadham), J Chance (Kellogg), D Alexander (Templeton), D Abbott (Linacre), D Palm (St Cross), J Jones (St Anne's).

CAMBRIDGE: H Murray (St Edmund's); D Tibbott (Sidney Sussex), J Ansbro (Robinson), S Thomas (Trinity), D Akinluyi (Christs); J Ufton (St Edmund's), R Blake (Hughes Hall); R Schwikkard (Hughes Hall), J Clark (St Edmund's), J Dawson (St Edmund's), J Blaikie (Hughes Hall, capt), M Harfoot (St Catharine's), N Johnson (Pembroke), D O'Brien (Hughes Hall), E Andrew (St John's).