Cambridge University RUFC encouraged to play with ‘freedom’ in clash against a Steele-Bodger XV at Grange Road

Head coach James Shanahan is hoping that the recent Varsity Match date switch will allow his Cambridge University RUFC side to play with some ‘freedom’ in their annual fixture against a Steele-Bodger XV.

Today’s match at Grange Road, which gets under way at 3pm, was traditionally a send off for the Blues before a pre-Christmas crunch clash with their Oxford University counterparts at Twickenham.

However, the showpiece encounter has now been switched to the spring, meaning that there is less pressure on the players on what is the second biggest date in their calender.

And as far as Shanahan is concerned, it should have a positive impact on the standard of the rugby on show.

He said: “Before they moved the Varsity this game was very much the curtain raiser for it.

“The Varsity is obviously the biggest game for us and while the Steele-Bodger game is still big and probably the second biggest in our season, it’s not quite as significant.

“But the fact that the Varsity is now not until next year, hopefully the boys can go out there, not worry and be a bit more relaxed.

“Normally the players that know they are going to make the Varsity are worried about avoiding injury with the game being so soon and others that are not sure if they’ll make the squad go out all guns blazing and that creates tension and anxiety.

“Now they can play with a bit of freedom, just like the Steele-Bodgers always do, and so it should make for a very decent game of rugby.

“It’s always a great game to be involved in. I’ve played in it and this is my seventh as Cambridge coach. It’s good for the players that they can play in it with the shackles off.”

Cambridge have had a mixed build up to this afternoon’s encounter, chalking up wins over the British Police and Coventry alongside a victory in the Town versus Gown fixture, while defeats have been suffered to Durham University, a Bishop’s Stortford XV and Italian outfit Siluri Rugby Club.

“It’s not been too bad,” added Shanahan. “This was always going to be a development term for the squad.

“We’ve not always had our senior players available for every match and every training session. At times we’ve been training with 40 or 50 players, which is not how it will be when it comes to the Varsity term.

“We’ve got more time to prepare and more time to look at players and that’s not a bad thing.

“We’ll be strong on Wednesday and it will be a good tester because the Bodgers will want to entertain and try different things, but for us it’s about can we play our game and avoid the danger of getting drawn in against a looser and unorthodox team.”

There will be a number of familiar faces within the Steele-Bodgers’ line-up, including former Blues Chris Bell, Joey Gatus and Miles Huppatz.