Cambridge 1872 Rugby Shirt – Sky Blue

Beschrijving

Heavy duty 100% slub cotton

380gsm

Embroidered vintage red lion logo with the date of the first Varsity Match

Embroidered 1871 detailing on the back of the neck

Reinforced hems

Two rubber button placket

Machine washable

Made in Portugal

Rugby Football is believed to have been introduced to Cambridge University in 1839 by Trinity College fresher Albert Pell. Pell had enrolled at Cambridge from Rugby School, where the game of rugby originated.

Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club was officially established in 1872, around three years after the Oxford rugby club was founded.

CURUFC officials helped to draw up the laws of the game that were adopted by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) when it was established in 1871. Cambridge became a Constituent Body of the Union in 1872, a status which the club still holds today. In 1874, Cambridge provided their first international player directly from the club, when John Batten represented England in the third encounter against Scotland.

The first Varsity match was contested between the two teams on 10 February 1872 at The Parks, Oxford. They played a 20 a-side version of the game (the teams would be set to 15 a-side in 1875). The Cambridge team was led out by captain Isaac Cowley Lambert. Cambridge lost by a single goal to nil.

The second Varsity Match in 1873 was played at Parker’s Piece in Cambridge, but since then it has always been played in London. The Oval in Kennington staged seven matches, three games were played at Richardson’s Field in Blackheath and another Blackheath venue, Rectory Field, hosted four games before Queen’s Club in Kensington became the regular venue from 1887 to 1920. The 1878 and 1879 matches were postponed due to fog. In 1921 the match was moved to the Rugby Football Union’s famous home ground, Twickenham.

The women’s rugby Varsity Match was first played in 1988 and has taken place at Twickenham on the same day as the men’s game since 2015