Oxford look to Irish pair

Oxford will look to the London Irish link of number eight Kevin Spicer and scrum-half Niall Hogan when attempting to end Cambridge's three-year dominance of the annual varsity match in front of a capacity 73,000 crowd at Twickenham today.

The odds are against the Irish pair helping to cause an upset, for Cambridge's traditional supremacy (they have won 18 of the last 25 matches) is bolstered by the presence of nine of the side which won last year's match by 23-7. Oxford, by contrast, have only six blues from last year.

"We played alongside each other in Ireland even before teaming up at Oxford, so we know each other's game," says Spicer, a product of Clongowes Wood College and UCD who is writing a 50,000 word thesis entitled The Professionalisation of Rugby, 1995-97, to complete his Master of Letters.

However, Spicer and Hogan, who is reading for a Doctorate of Philosophy in Cardivascular Physiology at Oxford, have missed three weeks of their side's preparations due to their involvement with London Irish in the English Premiership.

Cambridge have potential matchwinning centres in Bristol's Mark Denney and Mark Robinson, one of four New Zealanders to go with their quartet of Australians. They also look generally better prepared and more match tuned, having recently played Bedford, London Scottish and Blackheath in the League Cup.

Although they lost those matches, coach Tony Rodgers takes a positive message from the results. "It was painful at the time, but the experience must harden us for Twickenham."

One quaint tradition has been changed, whereby the previous year's captains will no longer be running the line. England coach Clive Woodward intends to make his disapproval known about professional referees being appointed to touchjudge the fixture.

He said: "It is ludicrous that a harmless tradition in an amateur match can be swept aside on the whim of RFU officials. I like tradition and I'm going to find out who overturned this old-fashioned touchjudge ritual and tell him that he was simply wrong."

Cambridge: P Surridge (St Kentigern College, Auckland & Hughes Hall); N Walne (Caerleon Comp & St Catherine's), M Robinson (Opunake, Nzl & Hughes Hall), M Denney (Bedford Modern & St Edmund's), N Hill (St Ignatius Col, Sydney & St Edmund's); R Ashforth (Bradford GS & Peterhouse), R Elliott (Durham & St Edmund's); G Reynolds (Cheshunt & Hughes Hall), T Murphy (St Joseph's Col, Brisbane & St Edmund's; capt), M Foulds (Christ Col, Canterbury & Sidney Sussex), R Bramley (Queen Elizabeth GS, Wakefield & St Edmund's), A Craig (Tauranga, Nzl & Hughes Hall), M Hyde (St Ignatius Col, Sydney & St Edmund's), H Whitford (The Leys & Homerton), J Cocks (Newington Col, Sydney & St Edmund's).

Oxford: R Maher (St Ignatius Col, Sydney & University; capt); N Booth (Lytham St Anne's HS & Worcester), N Larsen (Hilton Col, Durban & Lincoln), B Rudge (St Edwards, Liverpool & Keble), R Pollock (Diocesan Col, Cape Town & Keble); T Jensen (St Edmund's Col, Canberra & St Anne's), N Hogan (Terenure Col, Dublin & Merton); R Lehner (Jesuit HS, Sacramento, Calif & St Anne's), M Collard (King's School, Parramatta & St Anne's), A Reuben (Solihull & University), T Eisenhauer (St Ignatius Col, Sydney & St Anne's), A Roberts (Ampleforth & New), M Orsler (King's, Canterbury & Christ Church), D Kelaher (St Joseph's Col, Sydney & St Cross), K Spicer (Clongowes Wood Col, Dublin & St Anne's).