THE RUGBY

  1. History of the Welsh Varsity from the Beginning

    The Inaugural Welsh Varsity Match was played in 1997 in the Welsh Capital and home of Cardiff Rugby Football Club, Cardiff Arms Park. The game was played by the two Welsh Premier Universities; Cardiff and Swansea and the highly successful “Varsity” model was adopted with all proceeds from the event going to Oxfam.

    In the early years the Welsh Varsity Match was held alternatively at Cardiff Arms Park and St Helens, the home of Swansea Rugby Club. In 2003 and until 2007 the game was held at the neutral ground of the Brewery field in Bridgend.

  2. Welsh Varsity Match Favourites

    Historically Swansea University enjoy the tag of perennial favourites at the Welsh Varsity Match winning to date; thirteen Varsities, losing seven times and drawing once.

    Swansea University have regularly enjoyed the ability to select from a vast pool of very talented players such as Welsh nationals Alun Wynn Jones, Ritchie Pugh and Dwayne Peel. 2007 saw Swansea field no less than 11 FIRA Internationals at varying ages resulting in a win at Cardiff Arms Park.

    Cardiff have enjoyed success in recent years with the introduction of a Head of Rugby at Cardiff University. For the first time in the club’s history, Cardiff won back to back in 2008 and 2009, going on to achieve further wins in 2012 and taking the title on Swansea’s home turf in 2015.

  3. Life After the Welsh Varsity

    Many Cardiff and Swansea University students have gone on to represent and gain contracts with many semi professional and professional clubs on the back of great performances in the Welsh Varsity Match.

    In 2007 both Universities agreed to award Caps for all students who take the field and play in Varsity. This has added an extra edge to what has already proved to be the most competitive game of the year for both squads.

Year Venue Captains Result
1997 Cardiff Arms Park Rob Crozier Swansea 23 - 11 Cardiff
1998 St Helens Ben Williams Swansea 49 – 13 Cardiff
1999 Cardiff Arms Park Ben Martin Swansea 13 – 7 Cardiff
2000 St Helens James Meredith
James McKay
Swansea 28 - 18 Cardiff
2001 Cardiff Arms Park Andy Boyd
James Templeman
Cardiff 10 - 10 Swansea
2002 St Helens Alex Luff
Steffan Edwards
Cardiff 21 - 3 Swansea
2003 The Brewery Field Sam Rees
Hefin Evans
Swansea 18 – 12 Cardiff
2004 The Brewery Field Jon Tenconi
James Cole
Swansea 25 - 11 Cardiff
2005 The Brewery Field Jack Dawson
Owain Griffiths
Swansea 16 – 8 Cardiff
2006 The Brewery Field Tom Hocking
Craig Voisey
Cardiff 15 – 5 Swansea
2007 Cardiff Arms Park Richard Watkins
Matt Hopper
Swansea 18 - 0 Cardiff
2008 Cardiff Arms Park Aled Mason
Rob Evans
Cardiff 19 - 9 Swansea
2009 Cardiff Arms Park Aaron Fowler
Rhys Lawrence
Cardiff 9 - 6 Swansea
2010 Liberty Stadium Kerry O'Sullivan
Mark Schropfer
Swansea 16 - 12 Cardiff
2011 The Millenium Stadium Rhodri Clancy
Mark Schropfer
Swansea 28 - 18 Cardiff
2012 The Millenium Stadium Richard Smart
Jake Cooper-Wooley
Cardiff 33 - 13 Swansea
2013 The Millenium Stadium Jonathon Vaughan
Ross Wardle
Swansea 21 - 13 Cardiff
2014 The Millenium Stadium Reuben Tucker
James Thomas
Swansea 19 - 15 Cardiff
2015 Liberty Stadium Ben Madgwick
Ollie Young
Cardiff 26 - 22 Swansea
2016 Liberty Stadium Jay Williams
Ben Madgwick/Tom Wilson
Swansea 16 - 10 Cardiff
2017 Principality Stadium Jack McGrath
Jay Williams
Cardiff 35 - 15 Swansea
2018 Liberty Stadium Tom Wilson
Adam Thresher
Cardiff 23 - 15 Swansea
2019 Principality Stadium Tom Wilson
Jack Tharme
Cardiff 78 - 7 Swansea
2022 Swansea.com Stadium
Swansea 20 - 13 Cardiff

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