The game is the culmination of a week of sporting contests between the green and the red of the two rival universities, from swimming and fencing to hockey and horseriding.   

Report below - more Varsity pictures to follow

And what a perfect setting for the finale.   It’s as though the Millennium Stadium is made for Varsity.  Even the seats are red and green.   Over the past few years the game has become a major event in the sporting calendar in Wales.  It has been the launch pad for legends, such as Swansea’s Alun-Wyn Jones and Cardiff’s Jamie Roberts.   All the more fitting then that it should be played here, in one of the world’s most magnificent sporting arenas.

‌With the stadium roof shut, 15,000 fans – a surging sea of green and red - sounded like 50,000.  Cardiff had even brought the brass section of their orchestra, rousing the crowd with “Bread of Heaven”.    It was full-blooded support too, and as partisan and passionate as you’re likely to find anywhere:  imagine the Swansea-Cardiff football derby, but without the neighbourly warmth.

Amidst the heat and the passion, the coolest heads were on the pitch, as Swansea secured their victory with a performance that was composed and clinical.   

For much of the first quarter, the teams were probing each other’s defences in midfield, trying to find a way through.   A bright start from Cardiff was rewarded with a penalty and a 3-0 lead, but Swansea gradually began to secure more territory and possession, creating attacking opportunities.   Scrum-half Josh Guy broke through only to be called back for a forward pass. 

Intelligent kicks to the corner from outside-half Will Thomas led to the first period of sustained pressure from either team, with Swansea camped 5 metres from the Cardiff try line for a series of line-outs and scrums.   

The thin red line of Cardiff’s defence was starting to creak, especially in the scrum.  Eventually, the pressure told.  After a series of Cardiff offences, the referee  lost patience with the men in red and awarded Swansea a penalty try, converted by outside-half Will Thomas to give them a 7-3 lead.

Cardiff’s response was identical and immediate, using a penalty to push Swansea back to their 22.  A swift backline move – with a missed pass to outflank the Swansea defence – put their winger over in the corner for a well-executed try.  

Minutes later Cardiff almost went over again in the other corner, eluding Swansea tacklers before being hauled down just short of the line.   The half-time whistle came at just the right time for Swansea, relieving this bout of pressure, with the score standing at 8-7 to Cardiff.   

The third quarter of the game proved decisive, and in favour of Swansea, who produced two very different tries.   First it was the forwards’ moment to shine, with a vintage driveover try from close range, flanker Jack Perkins credited with the score.    

There was a greater zip about Swansea’s movement in attack now, with runners coming from deep to take the ball at pace, looking for the breakthrough.  It came when centre Matthew Jenkins timed his run perfectly to take a pass at full tilt and burst through the Cardiff defence to score close to the posts.   

The step up in energy and tempo since the break was clear; crucially, Swansea had made it count, moving into a 19-8 lead.   It was enough to make the Cardiff brass band switch briefly to a slightly melancholy New Orleans jazz number, perhaps sensing that the tide had turned against them.

On the pitch, however, the Cardiff team had other ideas.  As in the first half, conceding spurred them to respond in kind.  On 61 minutes they broke through on the Swansea 22 and, despite a dropped pass, crossed under the posts, the video referee allowing the try to stand.  

With 20 minutes to go, and with Cardiff having cut Swansea’s lead to 4 points, the game was set for a nerve-jangling finale.    If the brass band were taking requests, something edgy and tense from a Hitchcock film would probably have been about right.   Passions were high, nerves were on edge: some students even postponed a trip to the bar.  

But cometh the hour, cometh the men: cool, composed and mature, Swansea took control of the game, denying Cardiff the possession and position that they needed to get the crucial score.   Focused, disciplined and clinical, they kept hold of the ball for long periods, and penned Cardiff into their 22, while the minutes ticked by.

Cardiff still had their chances:  a line-out on the Swansea 22, a missed penalty.  They kept probing and pushing until the last, but ultimately they were too far from the danger zone, and too late in the day.   A stubborn and well-organised Swansea defence kept them at bay, holding on for the victory.

Coach Richard Lancaster, in charge of the Swansea team for the eighth year, said of the Welsh Varsity fixture:

“These are the sort of games that aspiring players dream of playing in.  A huge crowd, a massive occasion and an opportunity to do something special and be remembered by your peers.  

Student rugby is a rare commodity in the modern game and one that should be cherished.  The preparation and work that these players undergo in the lead-up to the match is easily comparable to that of a professional side.

I look forward to seeing who from this squad will break into the professional rugby ranks and become household names!”