@CherwellSport will be live-tweeting the match this Sunday – kick off at 3pm    

A short history lesson

Oxford rugby has had a Russian connection since the days of Prince Alexander Sergeevich Obolensky. His name may not be immediately familiar but the Rurikid prince, who became a naturalised Briton and went on to represent England in internationals in the 1930s, earned himself two full blues on the rugby fields of Iffley.

Since Obolensky, there had been a modest lull in Russo-Oxford rugby collaboration but after a connection forged in late 2009, OURFC has enjoyed two tours and is in the process of organising a third to Russia. In 2010 the Blues took their pre-season to Moscow, where Rocky -style fitness training was interspersed with cultural excursions to the ‘Gremlin’, the Russian Space Centre and a drinks reception at the British Embassy.

The second half of the 2010 tour involved an overnight trip on the trans-Siberian railway to Kazan (home of the 2013 World University Games) where the Blues had the honour of opening a newly build Rugby stadium in preparation for 2013.

In 2011 the Blues ventured further east to Siberian city Krasnoyarsk. This was a truly memorable tour for all involved as the Blues once again put a successful pre-season training programme into place with back to back Russian tours resulting in back to back Varsity Match victories for the first time in many years.

OURFC hosted the Russian national team at Iffley Road last year, with the Blues just losing out 15 – 29. This year the Russians return with another full strength International side, fully deserving of their IRB World Ranking of 19th.

Match Preview

It is a very rare thing for a university side to play a fully-fledged International side in any sport, much rarer for it to be a major sport, and almost unheard of for it to be on your door step.

On Sunday 10th November at 3pm, Oxford University Blues will face, to borrow a perplexed New College undergraduate’s phrase, “the whole of Russia.”

The Russian Bears start their Autumn International Test series with a fixture at Iffley road against the Blues. With an IRB World Ranking of #19, the full International Russian side will provide the Blues with a stern test in their lead up to The Varisty Match at Twickenham on 12th December.

Russia participated in the World Cup in 2011, and didn’t look out of place against the likes of Six Nations teams Italy and Ireland. They arrive in the UK beginning a three Test series against Oxford, Japan and old rivals, the USA.

Following their plucky defeat to Worcester Warriors, this will be another massive test for the Blues.

Entry for the match is £2 for students, or free if you have been lucky enough to get your hands on the limited number of tickets being given out around the University. For the Blues, this will be a test match in every sense of the word, and will prove a key point in their journey to Twickenham. Head coach James Wade is in the fortunate position to have the opportunity to select as close to a full strength team as one can expect at this stage in the season.

Come along to support your University against a country of 142 million.

One to Watch

Russia’s Vasily Artemyev channels Prince Obolensky, as Russia’s current flying winger. Currently plying his trade with the Aviva Premiership’s Northampton Saints, OURF’s defence will need to be on their guard for this man’s tricky running.

A man with a broad Irish accent gained from studying in the Emerald Isle, Artemyev made a lightning start to his Saints career with a hat-trick against Saracens, and has impressed with nine tries in two seasons for his club.

Internationally, the winger has been a key component of the Russia side which gave Australia a scare during the 2011 World Cup, whilst he was vital to a string of impressive Churchill Cup performances.

A law graduate, we can be sure that Artemyev has the intelligence to challenge our students; it remains to be seen if the Blues have the wherewithal to stop him.

Head to Head Stats

The college football leagues are getting into full swing and Worcester are currently unbeaten in the JCR Premier division after having seen off St Hugh’s 5-0 in their 2^nd match. Hugh’s got their first win of the season over St Catz with Hugh’s captain Arved Pohlabeln scoring the winning goal as well as assisting the other in a 2-1 win. Hugh’s then capitulated to Balliol this week; timidly losing 3-1. However Balliol’s start has also been patchy and they lost to Exeter the previous week with Blues Vice-Captain Ben May getting on the score sheet for the Turl Street outfit. Wadham were denied a first win of the season by Harry Lighton’s late equaliser for Teddy Hall after Wadham’s Captain Jeremy Stothart earlier scored two towering headers. Wadham’s wait for their first win only went on a few more days as they defeated Catz 2-0 with Stothart scoring again and former captain Josh Vivian also blasting in for Wadham. The JCR Premier Dvision is looking particularly tight this year although Worcester still look favourites.

In the JCR first division Keble continued their good form with a 6-2 win over Brasenose; Hamish Birrell scored two and assisted two for Keble who will be hoping to continue their fine start to the season. Brasenose have looked particularly meagre and also lost 5-1 to New who saw American fresher Michael Feeney bang in four goals! Feeney also scored twice in a 3-2 win over Merton/Mansfield and New will be praying he can continue scoring goals and finally take NCAFC back into the promised land of the JCR Premier Division. Trinity have lost two games in quick succession against Lincoln and Magdalen and it looks as if Trinity may be in a scuffle to avoid relegation. Keble and Lincoln are likely to be battling out for promotion with New in with a shout if they can build on their last two wins.

There’s a three-horse race for the title in the JCR 2^nd Division with LMH, St Anne’s and Pembroke all having taken maximum points from their opening three games. LMH have done the double over St Peter’s after having stuck six passed St Peter’s as Kiran Fothergill scored a hat-trick in their 6-2 victory before winning 3-2 against Peters just days later. Pembroke have also played the same opponent twice in quick succession; two 2-1 victories over Queen’s have left Alex Tsaptsinos’s side in a strong position in the 2^nd division. St John’s have had a mixed start beating St Peter’s 5-3 but then losing 3-1 to St Anne’s. All John’s footballing attention surely must be focused on their Cuppers match against Exeter on Friday 8^th November.

Univ have taken their customary bottom position in the JCR leagues after 8-0 and 3-0 losses to Jesus who have also beaten Christ Church 4-1. It is certainly looking like a tussle between Christ Church and Univ for bottom place with both teams on a -11 goal difference although Christ Church have managed one point more than Univ – gaining one point after a 1-1 draw with Somerville. Corpus/Linacre are gearing up for their Cuppers match against New after collecting one win and two draws from their first three games. Rory Johnson scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 victory over Oriel after two days previously those two teams drew 1-1. Corpus/Linacre’s 2-2 draw with Hertford will give the team that has forfeited Cuppers before playing a game for the last two years some confidence.

Head down to Marston playing fields this Friday (today) for a 2pm kick off to see Exeter take on St John’s in Cuppers or Cherwell’s other recommendation is Trinity vs. Keble at Trinity’s grounds just off Marston road – also a 2pm kick off in Cuppers.

I was at Byron, burger in hand, talking with a friend who tells me, “Exeter is looking to sponsor someone to climb Kilimanjaro for the 700th Anniversary, haven’t you heard?”

As it turned out, the deadline for applications was that day. I wrote mine in a hurry, did a follow up Skype interview the next week from my girlfriend’s kitchen, and a few days later I’m told I’m going to climb Africa’s tallest mountain.

I have a list of things to do before I die. Up until last month I had mainly managed to do little things: fly a kite, learn how to play Cluedo, have my fortune told, this was my first chance to really do one of the big things on there, have one of those huge, incredible, once in a lifetime experiences I’ve heard so much about that inspired me to start the list in the first place. I couldn’t let the opportunity slip past.

Then training began. I dragged friends up the Mourne Mountains with me on a weekly basis, went twice a week to ju-jitsu to get into shape, and did an eighteen-mile trial hike to see how things stood. I gathered my gear, guilt-tripped everyone I knew for sponsorship, and thought about which of the ‘recommended’ vaccinations were expendable. Then I climbed the Mournes some more.

All in all, the training served me well. Physically, I was happy to find that I was able to manage, and I had learned a lot of lessons during the earlier practice, including the sort of willpower it took to keep plodding on. Pole pole – slowly, slowly – was the mantra of the trip. We trekked through the rainforest, across scrubland and alpine desert, across the plain of a low-lying caldera, with Uhuru peak always visible, growing larger by the day. The scenery was breathtaking; to look out over rippling valleys of treetops fringed by huge cathedrals of rock was exactly what the trip was about for me. Seeing things so few people see, and which really stun you was why I wanted to climb the mountain in the first place.

The altitude, however, was something else. It isn’t something you can prepare for, and I think we were all just crossing our fingers and taking things as they came. My blood pressure dropped, blood sugars went crazy more than once, and altitude sickness hit. I didn’t quite make it to the 4,600m Lava Tower for acclimatisation on day four with the rest of the group, reaching 4,450m before having to descend to the next camp to recover. I, for one, was certainly happy for the comfort Haribo I had brought, which I maintain were what got me up the mountain.

On the last night, through nine hours of darkness, the 1000m ascent to the peak provided the final challenge. The lack of oxygen made it difficult to think straight, and it was becoming impossible for me to walk for more than a few minutes without taking a breather. I don’t know what the others were thinking, but it was hard for me not to question whether I could make it. The best I could manage was to put one foot in front of the other. I suppose that’s all you need.

It took a long time, and I needed to draw on every last bit of inner strength, but I made it: I reached the peak, walking the last 100m or so in silence with some of the people, one fifty years my senior, that I had gotten to know over the course of the walk getting us to this point, passing the others of our group on their way back, who hugged us, encouraged us, and walked on with their hearts soaring.

Seventeen Exonians made it to the top, and I am extremely proud and grateful to have been among them, to have walked with them and gotten to know them, and to have had such an incredible experience alongside them.

Now that fourth week is upon us and term is very nearly reaching its halfway stage, here at Cherwell Sport we feel it’s worth catching up on how the Blues and Roos of Oxford University Netball Club have fared in the start of their respective seasons. The Blues are competing in the Midlands 1A division of British Universities & College Sport (BUCS) while the Roos are currently battling it out in Midlands 3B, and both teams will be hoping that they can maintain their promising early performances for the duration of the campaign.

The Blues welcomed Nottingham 1sts to Oxford for their opening game of the season in 1^st Week, and managed to come away with a hard-fought victory, edging past the Midlanders 45-41. With the match in the balance going into the final quarter, excellent defensive performances by Ailsa Keyser and Beth Nichol, as well as some inspired shooting by Libby Stephens ensured that the Blues took all the points. Meanwhile, the inaugural set of fixtures in the Midlands 3B division pitted the Roos against arch-rivals Cambridge; after a close start, the Roos pulled away in the second quarter and eventually recorded a comfortable 41-30 win, earning bragging rights over the Tabs for the time being.

Both the Blues and the Roos continued their impressive unbeaten starts as the season entered its 2^nd week. The Blues made the journey to Bedfordshire to take on their first team and seemed still to be half asleep after the long trek as they got off to a slow start, finding themselves 6 goals down as the first half came to a close. However after some tactical tweaking Oxford slowly got back into the game and began to capitalise on Bedford’s mistakes; masterful shooting when it was most needed by Natalie Redgrave helped the Blues on their way to an excellent comeback victory, overcoming a dejected Bedford side 51-45. As for the Roos, they ensured that a second Nottingham-based side would leave the fortress of Iffley Road Sports Hall empty-handed in as many weeks, trouncing Nottingham Trent 3rds 31-16.

Week 3 ended in disappointment for both of Oxford’s netball sides. The Blues faced sporting giants Loughborough at home and succumbed to a 39-50 scoreline which did not reflect the true nature of the game. A close nailbiter throughout, Loughborough held a slender lead for the majority of the game, but the Blues’ admirable work ethic, especially from Liz Murray in the first half and Charlotte Rogers in the second, kept the rate of turnover high. Ultimately, however, mistakes and poor decision-making in attack let the side down, as Loughborough played a sleek and fast game to capitalise on Oxford’s errors in the final quarter, condemning the Blues to their first defeat of the season. Elsewhere, the Roos travelled to Lincoln for their third game of the season. Despite an encouraging start, they never really got going, as a tight-knit and polished Lincoln side took advantage of the Roos’ tiredness to claim a convincing 50-21 win.

Speaking to Cherwell Sport, OUNC Club Captain Sascha Eady summed up the first few weeks of the campaign: ‘I’m so happy with the amazing start both squads have had to the season. The attitude and determination of the girls in training and on court has clearly delivered results. After a disappointing third week, we’re desperate to make up for this minor blip in performance and are keen to get back in action this Wednesday. The Blues take on newly promoted Nottingham Trent, whilst the Roos get gritty in a local derby against Oxford Brookes – I’m confident for yet another double win!’

The two sides of Oxford University Netball Club can look back at the start of their seasons with pride and satisfaction, losing just one game and playing excellent netball. With the Blues and Roos hoping to bounce back this week as they seek to get their campaigns back on track, both squads are confident that their respective campaigns will ultimately prove to be successful. 

In baseball, the strikeout is the mark of dominance for a pitcher. Hurlers who average just one per inning are considered among the most dominant in the game; anything more is icing on the cake, so to speak. 

On Sunday, Oxford’s Taylor Jaszewski accomplished a feat that few pitchers in baseball history can claim: five strikeouts in one inning.

“I would have been happy to get five through the whole game,” remarked Jaszewski afterwards, “But that’s baseball. Weird things happen.”

Fortunately for Oxford, Jaszewski more than exceeded his own expectations on Sunday afternoon. the St Anne’s visiting student twirling five nearly spotless innings and recording eleven strikeouts to propel Oxford to a completegame 4-2 victory in the opening game of a doubleheader over the University of Southampton before giving way to Alex Butcher-Nesbitt of Lady Margaret Hall, who turned in a similarly dominant performance to lead Oxford to a 7-5 game two victory to complete the sweep.

Superior pitching performances notwithstanding, team captain Tim Goodman was quick to spread the credit around. “Ultimately, it was the performance of the entire team that gave us both games,” said Goodman.

The first game was a tense affair from the start, as the two squads failed to score in each of the first two innings while combining for ten strikeouts. In the third, Oxford broke the deadlock with a pair of runs to open the scoring for the season. Determined to protect the lead, Jaszewski took the mound in the bottom of the inning with as devastating an arsenal as ever. Unfortunately, his curveball, which he unveiled in earnest for the first time in the third, occasionally proved to be too much even for catcher Gareth Langley. Two third strikes evaded Langley, an outfielder playing his first game as catcher, in the inning, allowing a pair of fortunate Southampton runners to reach base.

Overall, the miscues were little more than aberrations for Langley, who is beginning his fifth year with the team and enjoyed an extremely successful debut behind the plate. “The biggest thing [about catching] is having to be on it mentally at all times,” said Langley. The actual catching the ball part was ok for the most part.

Eager to capitalize on their good fortune, Southampton ran the bases aggressively and tied the score, though Jaszewski managed to strand the potential go-ahead run at third base.

The score remained tied until the top of the fifth. Here, Jaszewski led off with a walk; two outs later, he had advanced to third. The situation demanded a clutch hit, and Natalie Dixon provided it with a shallow bloop into right field that scored Jaszewski and gave Oxford a lead they would not relinquish.

After a short break, Oxford picked up right where they left off in the top of the first in game two. A walk and a double by Jaszewski put two runners in scoring position just six pitches into the game; one out later, sharp line drive single up the middle by Langley plated both runners, giving Oxford an early 2-0 lead that became three by the inning’s end.

From there, Butcher-Nesbitt took things into his capable hands, shutting down Southampton on just one run over four quality innings of work. Butcher-Nesbitt’s only rough patch came in the third, when he loaded the bases with just one out and seemed to be struggling to locate anything over the plate. Fortunately, the solution proved surprisingly simple.

“I stopped worrying about the baserunners… They were just distractions for me” explained Butcher-Nesbitt, who focused instead on righting his delivery to the plate. “It seemed to put me the right zone, and I found the glove again.”

Butcher-Nesbitt’s crafty moundwork allowed Oxford to escape the inning with a tworun cushion still intact. From there, Oxford steadily built on their advantage, tacking on a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth to take a seemingly insurmountable lead into the bottom of the final frame.

But the final frame was not without drama. His pitching done for the day, Butcher-Nesbitt departed for a relief pitcher – the author of this article. Unfortunately, I proved utterly incapable of finding the strike zone and retired after allowing four Southampton hitters to reach base, all of whom eventually came around to score.

With the lead narrowed and the pressure building, Goodman came on to attempt his first career save. After allowing the inherited runners to score, calmly retired three straight hitters on a pair of grounders and a pop-up, all to Dixon at short, to seal the victory.

“It was a bit stressful,” admitted Goodman when the game was over. “The defence made all the plays behind me.”

With two wins under their belt, Oxford now look forward to a southern showdown against Imperial College in just over a week’s time.

Goodman, for one, believes the momentum can carry over. “Hopefully we can keep this up and do very well in the league this year,” he concluded.

The Men’s Badminton 1st VI performed to beat KCL 6-2 in third week. Having only brought five players to begin with KCL were at an immediate disadvantage, conceding two single games before the match commenced. Despite this, the strength of the Oxford team led to a convincing victory.

Men’s captain Joe Skornia beat his singles opponent comfortably 21-14 21-16 whilst Alastair Reed beat the same KCL individual despite losing the first game, eventually triumphing 19-21 21-16 21-14.

The two doubles pairs fielded by KCL differed significantly in quality. Both Oxford doubles pairs lost to KCL’s stronger duo. Mike Senior and Chris Lim lost 21-7 16-21 16-21 and Matt Harris and George Heinemann lost 22-24 21-12 17-21. Both matches were extremely close and despite being unable to secure victory, the pairs performed admirably against strong opponents.

Both Oxford pairs responded well to beat KCL’s 2nd pair easily, with Senior and Lim playing exceptionally and dominating their opponents; winning 21-5 21-9, whilst Harris and Heinemann were winning 21-14 23-21.

This result leaves Oxford top of the Premier South BUCS division having already beaten Bristol 8-0 the previous week. The Oxford squad put their 100% record on the line in 4^th week against a Bath team who are expected to pose a significant challenge.

Meanwhile, the Men’s 2nds continued their excellent unbeaten start to the season with a 5-3 win against University of East Anglia Men’s 1sts who were top of the division. UEA were unable to field a full team meaning two games were gifted to Oxford but the remaining 6 were closely contested and Oxford won 3 of the 4 doubles matches. Stephen Bedford and Alex Cloake won both of their matches and Josh Bappoo and Clinton Lau one of theirs to bring the score on the day to 3-3 and the two walkovers then ensured the victory.

On 27th October, the U21’s travelled to Worcester. After two weeks of results in which the Blues came away feeling hard done by, yesterday saw the squad finally clench their first win of the season with an impressive 9-1 win over Worcester 2nds at home. The team kicked off with an explosive start, scoring their first goal just seconds after the whistle blew. Laura Jennings was the first to get one in the net with a silky pass past the goalie.

The Blues were not to settle yet however, as Keble fresher Sonia Curtis made an outstanding run down the left flank, still within the first five minutes, skinning the keeper and effortlessly placing the ball in the centre of the goal.

Next up was Becca May who hit what was the be the goal of the match. Tina Gough made a run down the left wing and found Becca at the edge of the box with a cross. Without hesitation, the new Blues right midfielder hit a half volley with her left foot which fired straight in to the top corner. The bench and new coach, Nathan King were left ecstatic. Less than tenminutes had passed and the Oxford team had three goals on the scoresheet. Another goal came soon after as Sonia Curtis hit a low cross in to the box which was found by Laura Jenning’s foot once more, to bring her goal tally up to two.

The week of training focused on shooting was looking as if it would pay off and Tina Gough was now looking to get one of her own. A few successive corners passed and Tina hit a cracking header which was just tipped over the post by the Worcester keeper. However, the St Hilda’s striker was soon to get what she deserved, as she scored a subliminal goal which shot in to the top left corner.

5-0 up after fifteen minutes and the Blues settled down a bit, retaining possession and working the passing triangles starting right from the centre backs. But soon enough Becca May couldn’t resist a cheeky pop at goal from twenty yards to add to her other goal and bring the score up one more for the Blues. Another goal from Laura Jennings gave her a hattrick before half time.

The second half was calmer, the Blues dropped the tempo a little bit and unfortunately this meant for the team that they wouldn’t be going home with a clean sheet today. A long dropping lob from Worcester’s centre midfielder sailed over Oxford’s Chloe Coates and in to the Blues’ own net. Typically, Becca May came straight back from this with a tap in from a cross to bring back the seven goal lead against the Worcester side. Although the half was much steadier, new OUWAFC player Katharine Nutman, after doing a lot of the play making all match, finally found her chance for glory and finished the win off at 9-1 with a beautiful left footed shot from twenty five yards.

Following this win and with a free week next week, the Oxford team have the next couple of weeks of training to focus on set pieces and tactics before our next fixture on the 13th November against Wolverhampton 1sts away.

Captain’s Player of the Match: Becca May (in association with www.ouafc.com)