The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England.

The women's rugby Varsity Match was first played in 1988 and has taken place at Twickenham on the same day as the men's game since 2015.

[19] The record number of appearances is held by former RFU secretary Rowland Hill along with Welshman Gwynne Walters both with seven games.

Up until the start of the professional era, one of the unique aspects of the Varsity game was that the referee was not appointed by the RFU but agreed upon and invited by the two captains.

This tradition ended after the 1997–98 season, along with that of the previous year's captains returning to act as touch judges (a continuation of the original custom of each university appointing an umpire), when the RFU Referees' committee decided that touch judges could only be qualified officials and that the RFU should appoint the referee.

[22] Subsequent sponsors have been Lehman Brothers from 2006 to 2007,[23] Nomura Group from 2008 to 2011[23] and Pol Roger and Glenfarclas distillery since 2012.

These include:[27] 1987 Rugby World Cup winning All Blacks captain David Kirk played in the 1987 and 1988 Varsity Matches after ending his international career to take up a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford.

Brian Smith represented Australia in the 1987 Rugby World Cup and played in the 1988 and captained 1989 Varsity match for Oxford, before continuing his international career with Ireland 1990–1991.

[27] Former Wallaby Joe Roff played in the 2006 and 2007 Varsity Matches for Oxford after retiring from professional rugby,[27] captaining the side in 2007.

The most notable were retired All Black hooker Anton Oliver for Oxford[31] and former Wallaby lock Dan Vickerman for Cambridge, with Oxford also fielding current Canada flanker Stan McKeen and Cambridge fielding former All Black centre Mark Ranby and former United States scrum-half Doug Rowe.