In the build-up to the Men*s Blues game against international touring team the Penguins (match report here), I caught up with Bill Calcraft, Penguins’ Senior Vice-President and 1987 Blues captain. He comes into the offices under the West Stand with a comfort indicating familiarity, greeting me with a handshake and a smile. Calcraft has recently returned to Oxford, participating in the Oxford Next Horizons programme (a new Rhodes House, Harris Manchester initiative), and found time to make his way back to Iffley Road to reminisce on what the Varsity Matches mean to him. With only four days to go, secure your tickets now if you haven’t already.
As well as being Blue #891, Calcraft is Wallaby #648 and remembers watching his first Varsity Match in 1984 while finishing a tour with the Wallabies. He recognised many of the names on the screen from the shirts of those facing him across the pitch in earlier games of the tour they had just completed, including British Lion Hugo McNeil captaining the Oxford side. The following year, Varsity came knocking at his door, managing to find him despite his seclusion on an island in Far North Queensland. Bill remembers receiving a phone call at his hotel in December 1985 which opened with “Gday, Billy” and ended with him getting on a flight to Sydney. He was told Oxford had “smashed” the Tabs in an unbelievably convincing (7-6) victory and that some representatives from Oxford were on their way to Sydney to meet with him. Despite trying to return to the beach, he was overruled and found himself packing his bags to meet with Reg Clark and other representatives from the Japanese company, Kobe Steel, who have a long history with OURFC (find more information on the upcoming Japan U19s game here).
The Dark Blue recruitment drive that year was focusing on boosting the age and experience of players in the squad, looking at candidates for post-grad degrees with impressive rugby experience. As a law and commerce graduate with a secure place in the Wallabies and Waratah (New South Wales) squads, Calcraft fit the bill. He’s also keen to point out his allegiance to Manly RUFC, wearing a cap with their Marlin logo and talking about his ongoing links with the club. Nine months after this surprise phone call, Calcraft found himself on the pitch at Iffley Road, fresh from the 1986 Wallaby tour of New Zealand a mere two weeks earlier.
As well as the abrupt shift in climate, Calcraft remembers how Oxford rugby compared to previous environments. Only here is the elected captain in charge of the club in such a way, creating a unique player experience. Calcraft fondly remembers Lynn Evans (whose thoughts on the Varsity Matches can be found here) building a “very successful coaching structure” as well as “a happy environment” where all players could contribute. Simon Griffin was captain in the 1986 season: a counterpart to Calcraft on the field in their complimentary flanker positions and to Evans on the side lines in a Welsh alliance that “brought their hearts to the pitch”. Calcraft enjoyed his company on the pitch as well as off, with the praise that he was “witty” as well as “knows where to be on a footy field”. This culture of collaboration meant that neither Griffin nor Evans were dictators but rather allowed and encouraged players to develop and exchange ideas. Training drills were a particularly hot commodity, with players from various international teams contributing techniques they had learned with coaches such as Alan Jones, Calcraft’s Australian coach who was invited over to run some sessions by Evans. Calcraft remembers the “top level urgency” this brought to the squad, with players “levelling up” under such varied and qualified supervision.
After a victory the year before, the Dark Blues were hoping to gain the momentum to rival the Light Blue run of five consecutive wins from 1981-1985 (though the Dark Blues now hold the record for the longest consecutive Men’s run of six between 2010 and 2015). In the build-up, Calcraft became familiar with the various traditions that contribute to the Varsity experience, from the captain riding around the city the week before the match to have selection conversations with his squad to the team sheet being posted in the window in Walton’s on Turl Street each week. He asked after this tradition when he came into the office for this conversation, saying he’d looked in the window hoping to catch a preview of the Penguins line up.
As well as a collective movement towards Varsity, individual prep remained very important. The player routine for travelling to Twickenham and staying in the hotel remained consistent year-to-year and Calcraft also recalls his personal superstitions: strapping his ankles before putting socks and boots on, then moving up to strap his fingers. There’s a particular smile on his face when he talks about the mental shift before the match. It’s calm but confident, his lips tipping up on one side as he gestures with hands that contextualise the story about strapping his fingers, one pinky jutting out at almost a right angle. His voice lowers as he describes the moments in the changing rooms where the talking stops and everything gets quiet, his hat now lying on the arm of his chair as he considers. The pause before he continues embodies the reverence for the Varsity Matches, a respect felt across generations of Dark and Light Blues for a game like no other.
Calcraft spent those quiet moments visualising the game. He wanted to know who was kicking-off, imagine where he’d be standing, consider whether his first engagement would be a catch, a tackle, or securing the ball. This intentionality walked out onto the pitch with him as he soaked up the experience, conscious that this occasion was one he would remember for the rest of his life. He chuckles, coming back to the present as he reflects that he was right, both of his Varsity Matches remaining amongst his fondest Oxford and playing memories. He then comments that his nerves faded with the first whistle, focusing on the game and blocking everything else out, despite the Varsity Matches remaining the loudest player experience Calcraft can remember. A crowd full of students jeering, cheering, and chanting made it impossible to hear lineout plays at some points.
In 1986 it was a tight game, with Calcraft playing opposite Rob Wainwright, whom he had previously faced with Wainwright in a Lions shirt and Calcraft in Wallabies Gold. The Dark Blues pulled ahead with a 15-10 victory, “pleased they’d done the job”. Post-match, Calcraft remembers the huge tubs in the changing rooms at Twickenham, fifteen two-person baths for soaking up the moment. Other traditions also kicked in off pitch, with handshakes with the opposition in the changing rooms, followed by a joint drinks reception at the Oxford and Cambridge Club in London before the teams separated for dinner.
The campaign for the 1897 Varsity Match began in September, with Calcraft captaining a tour to France. Similar to the year before, a lot of the team was staying on and hungry for another victory. There is only one comment on the season’s performance: “it was all a repeat except we lost 15-10". When I ask him why, Calcraft has two ideas, one arising from a lunch last year with Nigel Topping, Cambridge’s Secretary and second row in 1986 and 1987. In a word, “skulduggery”. Topping had told him about the Light Blue plans to disrupt the Oxford psyche, a “very intelligent side” who set out to get in their heads. The other reason is an older grievance, held onto from the day itself – the controversial Chris Oti try. The winger, who represented England in his international debut against Scotland a few months later, scored one of Cambridge’s tries the year before and twice in 1987, though Calcraft maintains that there was some dispute about whether his foot had gone into touch ... before mentioning previous captains are no longer allowed to run as linesmen. He does, however, concede that Cambridge scored a "cracker" of a try, with Welsh winger, Mark Thomas, scoring in the south-east corner to complete a great counter-attack. He eventually shrugs and laughs, saying it seems he’s “still not quite over it”.
My reply is simple: “are you ever?”. The level of meaning that Varsity holds is difficult to explain to those who haven’t experienced it. Years down the line, it maintains connections, both between teammates (Calcraft recalls running into David Kirk last year at a dinner in Sydney and reminiscing on their shared time at Iffley Road) and opposition (as evidenced by the “skulduggery” lunch). The Varsity Matches are an honour for the 92 players selected for the squad year on year, as well as a genuine pleasure for previous Blues, who can remember their own Varsity experience and enjoy seeing their legacies in safe hands. No matter the life that has brought you to Varsity, Calcraft remembers that everything else disappears when you are sitting in the changing room before the game, waiting for the referee to knock on your door and send you out onto the pitch with your team to take on fifteen players in the wrong colour Blue with the opposite plan to yours.
If you haven’t yet bought your tickets to support the 2025 Varsity Squads, pick them up here and we’ll see you at StoneX on Saturday at 12pm.
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