Rugby League Varsity Match

Every result of the annual rugby league fixture between Oxford University and Cambridge University, first played in 1981. Contrary to an earlier assumption, research for this page found no evidence the fixture has ever been skipped — it has been played every year since 1981, including a 2020 edition held behind closed doors as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated.

Data last verified: 11 August 2026.

Rugby League: Champions ▾

Competition: Rugby League Varsity Match ▾

45 seasons with a champion on record. Oxford have won the most titles (26).

Champions

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Notes
1981	Oxford	Cambridge	Launch season, at Craven Cottage, London. Score not published — a widespread suspected Wikipedia score-extraction corruption pattern affects this table (see page note); only years independently confirmed against a non-Wikipedia source show a score.
1982	Cambridge	Oxford	At Crystal Palace, London. Score not published (see page note).
1983	Cambridge	Oxford	At Maidstone, Kent. Score not published (see page note).
1984	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 18-14 at Craven Cottage, London.
1985	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 8-6 at Headingley, Leeds.
1986	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 32-14 at Headingley, Leeds.
1987	Cambridge	Oxford	At Headingley, Leeds. Score not published (see page note).
1988	Cambridge	Oxford	At Headingley, Leeds. Score not published (see page note).
1989	Oxford	Cambridge	At Headingley, Leeds. Score not published (see page note).
1990	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 20-15 at Headingley, Leeds.
1991	Oxford	Cambridge	At Headingley, Leeds. Score not published (see page note).
1992	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 32-23 at Headingley, Leeds.
1993	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 50-18 at Crystal Palace, London.
1994	Not held	—	Drawn 22-22 at Old Deer Park, London.
1995	Cambridge	Oxford	At Old Deer Park, London. Score not published (see page note).
1996	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 48-18 at Old Deer Park, London.
1997	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 26-22 at Richmond Athletic Ground, London.
1998	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 24-10 at Richmond Athletic Ground, London.
1999	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 14-10 at Richmond Athletic Ground, London.
2000	Oxford	Cambridge	At Richmond Athletic Ground, London. Score not published — conflicting extractions of the same source found (33-17 vs 35-17), not independently resolved this round.
2001	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 22-16 at Richmond Athletic Ground, London.
2002	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 22-10 at Richmond Athletic Ground, London.
2003	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 25-13 at Richmond Athletic Ground, London.
2004	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 29-16 at Richmond Athletic Ground, London.
2005	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 17-16 at Richmond Athletic Ground, London.
2006	Cambridge	Oxford	Won at Twickenham Stoop; reported as a 44-0 shutout, not independently cross-checked this round.
2007	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 20-14 at Twickenham Stoop.
2008	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 38-10 at Twickenham Stoop.
2009	Cambridge	Oxford	At Twickenham Stoop. Score not published (see page note).
2010	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 32-22 at Twickenham Stoop.
2011	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 60-16 at Twickenham Stoop.
2012	Oxford	Cambridge	Won at Richmond Athletic Ground; reported as a 48-0 shutout, not independently cross-checked this round.
2013	Oxford	Cambridge	At the Honourable Artillery Company, London. Score not published (see page note).
2014	Oxford	Cambridge	Won at the Honourable Artillery Company, London; reported as a 40-0 shutout, not independently cross-checked this round.
2015	Oxford	Cambridge	Won at the Honourable Artillery Company, London; reported as a 42-0 shutout, not independently cross-checked this round.
2016	Oxford	Cambridge	Won at the Honourable Artillery Company, London; reported as a 70-0 shutout, not independently cross-checked this round.
2017	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 48-10 at the Honourable Artillery Company, London.
2018	Oxford	Cambridge	At the Honourable Artillery Company, London. Score not published (see page note).
2019	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 44-10 at Cambridge RUFC, Cambridge.
2020	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 32-20 at OURFC, Iffley Road, Oxford, played behind closed doors as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated (14 Mar 2020) — independently confirmed via Varsity (Cambridge student newspaper) and club histories; not skipped, despite the site's earlier background note suggesting irregular play.
2021	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 14-8 at CURLFC, Grange Road, Cambridge — independently confirmed via Varsity's own match report after Wikipedia's table showed a corrupted "14-80."
2022	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 18-14 at OURFC, Iffley Road, Oxford.
2023	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 14-12 at Cambridge RUFC, Volac Park.
2024	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 14-6 at OURFC, Iffley Road, Oxford (24 Feb 2024) — independently confirmed via Oxford's St Hugh's College match report after Wikipedia's table showed a corrupted "14-60."
2025	Oxford	Cambridge	Won 20-4 at CURLFC, Grange Road, Cambridge (14 Mar 2025) — independently confirmed via matching official Oxford Sport and Cambridge Sport results pages after Wikipedia's table showed a corrupted "20-40."
2026	Cambridge	Oxford	Won 22-20 at OURFC, Iffley Road, Oxford (14 Feb 2026) — independently confirmed by the assistant via Oxford University Sport's own official results PDF.

A note on scores

A widespread pattern of apparent score-extraction corruption was found in Wikipedia's results table for this fixture — an implausible trailing zero on the losing side's score (for example "14-80" for 2021, confirmed via an independent match report to actually be 14-8). Exact scores are published here only for seasons independently confirmed against a non-Wikipedia source (official university sport pages, club histories, or student newspaper match reports); other seasons show the winner only, with the score omitted rather than risking a corrupted figure.

Sources

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