Whittingham gives Aussies the boot
Outstanding stand-off James Whittingham orchestrated a dazzling opening 20 minutes of back play which saw the Blues defeat a resurgent Australian Universities side at the Iffley Road ground on 26th January.
After defeats to the English and Welsh Student teams, the Australians came to Oxford in hope of their first win on British soil. It was not to be, as Oxford stamped their authority on the game early on, dominant in the scrum and in firm control of the ruck.
A Whittingham penalty in front of the post saw the opening score, after the Australians were caught offside.
It was Whittingham's turn of pace on the ten-minute mark that created the first try, as he cleverly stepped inside Alexei Avsenev before feeding centre John Bradshaw. Bradshaw made no mistake, crossing the whitewash close to the corner.
The majestic Whittingham began to control the game, distributing the ball to his outside backs who caused havoc in the Australian defence. The stand-off broke the line from 40 metres and again found and fed Jonan Boto who slid over the line five metres in from touch.
At this point the Australians may have envisaged a thrashing similar to the half-century of points Oxford racked up against the RAF the previous week.
Things seemed to be going that way as a clever move from an Oxford lineout allowed Ali James to score under the posts. The conversion kept Oxford at a point-a-minute scoring rate.
The momentum nearly shifted soon after: following a number of solid phases by the Australian pack the ball was cleanly recycled to feed pacey winger Francis Fainifo. He managed to slide over the line, only to be held up by a determined Tom Maynard.
Bradshaw's second try in 38 minutes put the home side back on the right track as again the centre showed his agility in eluding the clutches of the Australian back-line. Oxford well deserved their 27-0 half-time lead.
The second half started much as the first had finished. After only two minutes, lock Ben Durham charged down a rushed Australian kick and the bobbling ball was picked up by Knox, who finished in the corner.
The game began to get scrappy, but it took an error from Oxford substitute Jon Rivers for the visitors to add to their total. Rivers was unable to control what was at best a speculative kick forward, and was punished as Fainifo plucked the spilt ball and scored unchallenged in the corner.
The final word went to a resurgent Australian side, as Cottrell's break this time found support from centre Joel Johnson, who turned the ball inside to Scot Jones who jogged in for the score. The conversion made the score a respectable 32-19, leaving Oxford wondering how their early domination of the game had been allowed to slip.
3rd Feb 2005