List of fixtures for OUARFC for the academic year 2021/2022:

- Intra-Club Scratch Matches - 7/11/2021 - Oxford Uni Parks - COMPLETE

- NUL Round 1 - 13/11/2021 - Cardiff - COMPLETE
Oxford Women def Cambridge Women (League Fixture)
Oxford Women def Cambridge Women (Friendly/mixed teams)
Oxford Men def Cambridge Men (League Fixture)
Oxford Men def Cardiff Met Men (League Fixture)

- Movember Cup - 20/11/2021 - Manchester - CONFIRMED

- NUL Round 2 - BYE

- NUL Round 3 - 22/01/2022 - Oxford

- Fitzpatrick Cup - 5/02/2022 - Cardiff

- NUL Round 4 - 26/02/2022 - Birmingham

- 2022 Varsity Match - Oxford (likely 5th March)

- NUL Finals TBC (likely March 19th)

Other friendlies will be organised for during the academic season and also for April and May 2022

OUARFC are delighted to announce Justin Clarke as the Women's Coach for the 2021-22.

Justin has previously been at the Brisbane Lions, where he played 56 AFL games before an early retirement in 2016 due to concussion. Justin was assistant coach at the Queensland team The Western Magpies following his retirement, and he studied at the University of Queensland.

Justin comes to Oxford with his partner Jess, who had also joined the Club. Justin is reading a DPhil in Engineering specialising in computational hypersonics as a Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College. He joins the ranks of many passionate Rhodes Scholar members of the Club over the last 115 years.

OUARFC hosted a domestic footy trip in 2021 due to the covid regulations making European travel more difficult.
We had a awesome 3 night trip to beautiful Edinburgh in late July. 

33 members came along on the trip - the most ever - and we enjoyed highly unusual Scottish weather of full sun over the whole weekend.

Highlights included a friendly against the Edinburgh Bloods on the Saturday. The women losing in a narrow tussle and the men running out easy victors. Best on were Sophie Bennet and Cam Sharp. We had a huge social with the Bloods that night which ended on the Scottish National Monument on Calton Hill with the sun rising the following morning.

We enjoyed some great Edinburgh sights - the Castle, Portobello Beach and Arthur's Seat - and were fortunate to stay on the Golden Mile. We also had time for evening lawn bowls and a kick in The Meadow's. 

Thanks to all who came along for such an enjoyable and fun trip - these events are what really make the Club!

Thanks to Ashleigh Barnes for her leading role in organising this trip.

The 2021 Varsity Matches between OUARFC and CUARFC proceeded against the odds in the covid-19 marred season. The Matches took place on the 10th of July 2021. Cambridge hosted the day and after last minute changes due to covid regulations we ended up playing on rugby fields in Newmarket, just east of Cambridgeshire.

Oxford lined up solid teams for both the Men and Women after a summer of training. Both teams played excellent games of footy, with a very high standard. The day did not go the way of Oxford, with the Women losing in a close first game. Cambridge were ferocious in their tackles and escaped in the second half to secure the Women's Varsity Cup. Oxford's best on were Connie Hurton and Clara VC (Captain), with Sophie Bennet also having an excellent game.

The men's game was a reduced size due to the rugby pitch arrangements, and playing with 15/side on the ground certainly led to a congested game. The score line was tight all the way through to the final change, before Cambridge slotted a series of goals to secure the double victory. Best players for Oxford were captains Cam Sharp and Dexter Chiew, with Jasha Trompf and George Fowler also having excellent games.

Oxford were certainly disappointed in this result, but had a great day of footy against our old rivals. We all had a very enjoyable evening in the Pub in Cambridge and a very memorable bus ride back to Oxford. 

OUARFC Women emerged from the inaugural WWE9s League as Premiers following the Finals Day in Bristol on Saturday 18th September 2021.

The Oxford women, led by Captain Clara VC, were undefeated in the covid-impacted League. After the first round of the competition was cancelled due to a covid-19 outbreak in the Nottingham team ahead of their home round and the late withdrawal of the Cambridge Lions the season looked in doubt. Thanks to the hard work of the administrators and determination of the other teams in the League the rest of the season went ahead. The League was contested by Oxford, Nottingham, Cardiff, Sussex and Bristol.

In an excellent start to their campaign Oxford defeated the Sussex Swans and the Cardiff Panthers in Brighton in August, before having the bye in the following round in Cardiff. On the finals day Oxford won their preliminary final against the Nottingham Scorpions to proceed to the Grand Final (Oxford 3.3.21 def. Scorpions 1.1.7). The final was against the Sussex Swans after the Swans narrowly defeated the Scorpions in the second elimination final. Oxford came out strong in the final to put 2 goals on the board in the first quarter. Oxford remained dominant in a physical contest to come out as Premiers (Oxford 4.3.27 def. Swans 0.3.3).

The grand-final marked Clara VC's last game as Captain of the OUARFC Women. Thanks for your efforts over the last year!

OUARFC thank all teams for participating in the League and all umpires and administrators for their work.

​At Horspath Athletics Ground earlier this year, the Oxford Aussie Rules football club took on Cambridge in their annual Varsity match. It was a big day- the 100th consecutive Varsity Match for the Men’s side (the longest running league outside of Australia!) and the 3rd Women’s Varsity match.
 
The Oxford women’s team were the clear underdogs going into the match- we hadn’t won a game against Cambridge this season, and Cambridge were the champion of the multination Fitzpatrick Cup held earlier in the season. However, we had a solid few weeks of training consolidating some key skills (and a few video messages of encouragement from AFL-W superstars in Australia), and with the help of our coach Ben, we were feeling strong and ready to give them a run for their money!
 
We managed to maintain a lead throughout the entire game, and come away with a convincing win: 51 to 20. Romy and Ellie were key in the defensive line, and Connie and Abbie were unstoppable- kicking goal after goal! It truly was a team effort however, and despite Cambridge coming back in the final quarter, we maintained the intensity until the final whistle. This was the first time the Oxford Women’s side had won a Varsity match, and it was great to do so in front of our supporters!
 
Aussie rules welcome’s people with no experience, being Australian is certainly not a pre-requisite and we have a lovely welcoming community, with a relaxed training and game schedule. If you are interested in playing next season (whatever that may look like) or want some more information, please reach out! 

​Saturday the 14th of March marked the culmination of the season for our boys in the annual Varsity match against Cambridge at Horspath Athletics Ground in Oxford. There was even more to play for this year with this being the 100th Varsity between the two clubs, in what is the oldest Aussie Rules rivalry outside of Australia.

Earlier in the season Cambridge took the honours in both NUL games; however a win against them at the Fitzpatrick Cup in February gave us plenty of confidence heading into the game. We were also fired up by the amazing win from our women in the earlier game, a feat which we hoped to repeat shortly afterwards.

In typical Varsity fashion the game was hotly contested from the outset, with the intensity and competitiveness definitely a step up from earlier games in the season. To Cambridge’s credit they certainly brought the heat and shot out of the blocks with the first 6 goals of the match. This early flurry would ultimately be the difference despite a much more even display in the following three quarters.

The final result for us unfortunately read Cambridge 13.8 (86) def. Oxford 8.13 (61). On reflection of the score line our fortunes may have been more favourable had we converted our opportunities however full credit to Cambridge on a well-deserved win. Both clubs left any ill will on the field and joined together for a few beers in the clubhouse which is what it’s all about!  

Finally, huge thanks go to the committee for putting on a successful day and for all the efforts throughout the year. We look forward to Varsity redemption in 2021 and to hopefully starting our 2020-21 season in the coming months. Despite the current uncertainty surrounding sports and everyday life we are very keen to get back to footy as soon as possible and welcome anyone who wishes to come down for a kick!

Round 1 for the National University League was hosted by Oxford. Match reports are provided by the men's captain, Cam Sharp and the women's captain, Beth Hamilton.

Oxford Vs Cambridge Men

Our Oxford men got their NUL campaign off to a tough start against a strong Cambridge side, going down by 21 points in trying conditions. Ultimately a fast start out of the blocks and a big bodied Cambridge side proved too big a task to overcome, however there were plenty of positives to take from the game. 

With a collective 28 players available for round 1, this was the first of two separate 14 man squads to take the field on the day. Included in this first squad were six debutants who all put in a great showing and will certainly benefit from the run under their belt. Accompanying these fresh faces was the experience of our senior players which really shone through in the tough conditions. 

In the end despite not coming away with a win there is plenty of upside for the team going into the rest of the season. 

Oxford Vs South Wales Men

Eagerly awaiting the afternoon game versus South Wales was our second 14 man squad for the day. The fresh legs and a last minute field change saw what should’ve been a boggy affair turn into a more free flowing match, to which our boys ran our 73 point winners. 

Throughout the game there was a clear balance across the field with the defenders, mids and forwards all complimenting each other. This saw some slick ball movement from end to end which was promising to see. Highlights for the game were 4 goals on debut from Dexter Chiew and a commanding first game in defence from Andrew Giltrap. 

Overall our men will take a lot of confidence into the rest of the season with a 1-1 start and giving plenty of players a run.

Oxford Vs Cambridge Women 

Our first game of the season- the first game as a team, and first game ever for a lot of members of the team! Despite our usual game day venue Uni Parks being closed due to flooding, thanks to the magic of club secretary and vice-captain Romy, the day proceeded at Horspath athletics track.

Although Cambridge proved too good a team on this occasion, we kept our heads up throughout the game, the chat and support was constant, and there was a dramatic improvement between the first twenty minutes of play and the second half, as we became more familiar with the rules and playing with each other.

A shout out to our defensive side who turned over countless balls and to Esther, who after a solid half of running between mid and forward, sustained an injury which unfortunately counted her out of game 2 (she has recovered well!). Special mention to the following players for their first ever game of AFL: Fig, Veronica, Alice and Linda!

Oxford Vs South Wales Women

After a mere 20 minutes of rest (and 1 x hobble to the bar and back from Beth), we started “warm”-up for match two against Wales. After a tactics talk from Mitch regarding ruck set up, and ongoing positivity from everyone involved, we took to the field in high spirits. The improvement from game one was evident- we matched up woman on woman, moved the ball into space and down the field more effectively and continued the encouragement and chat up throughout the game.

Fig scored a first early goal, outrunning the defence, met by furious cheers from the side-line. Another (almost) goal from Emilie, who also did an excellent job being ruck throughout both games despite a hand and hip injury. Katie was impressive in her perseverance throughout this game despite a couple of notable run-in’s with the opposition.

Although Wales won convincingly, but we were happy with the improvements from game one, and have lots to take away as learning points for future training and games.

On a sunny day in late March, Oxford and Cambridge faced off in the 97th Varsity match at St John’s College Playing Fields, Cambridge. Oxford had narrowly won the 96th, though in the 95th Cambridge pulled off a major upset at the same ground, leaving everything to play for under the spring sun - Cambridge were looking for two home victories in a row, Oxford for the chance to reassert the dominance of recent years.

Oxford started well. Solid ruckwork from Jack 'Inspector' Valmadre and strong body positioning from Prof Matt McGilvray provided Oxford with more than their fair share of the footy. Phill ‘Hammer’ Hamer and James ‘MD’ Kennedy went searching for targets in the forward line, and were not disappointed, but it took a while for this dominance to be reflected on the scoreboard. Usual suspect Dylan Wise opened the scoring with a solid mark and goal from out in front. Lightning struck twice for Dylan, and a few minutes later he sent through his second.

Play went back and forward for the rest of the first half, as both sides tried to find their rhythm. Oxford possessions seemed to be much cleaner as accurate passing and reliable marking allowed us easy yards up the field. By contrast, Cambridge struggled to get clean possession in dangerous areas and were always made to work hard for their ground. The Oxford defence, packed with experience, was able to clear up the more speculative punts forward. Nathan 'Jesus' Grindal made Cambridge think twice about going near the ball, while Ollie Bartlett and Genie 'Fist' Duff cleared up scraps and were able to recycle the ball to the targets waiting further up the field.

This paid dividends as Bartlett found club stalwart Grey Johnston, who in turn picked out Seb 'Flounder' Wylie, who led strongly in the forward line all day. With the title of “Best Forward in the Osney Thermofluids Lab” up for grabs, Dylan and Flounder got the goal kicking rivalry underway, making Cambridge suffer on the scoreboard in the process. Flounder walked back and got his first, followed by his second from the pocket.

Cambridge struck back just before the end of the quarter and bagged a fine goal from 40m out to leave the scoreboard reading: Oxford 25 - Cambridge 6.

The message at quarter time from Coach Riggas (narrowly pipped by Simon Goodwin as Melbourne Coach for 2017) was simple: keep going hard and keep scoring goals. This was the quarter in which to break the Cambridge spirits and establish a stranglehold on the match.

Dylan kept the scoreboard ticking over with another goal, his leads proving to be too elusive for his Cambridge defender. Louis Jamart added French flair to the wing, playing in front of his dad, arguably the sharpest dressed man in Cambridge that afternoon (sorry Hugo). Rob Cornish didn’t give away any easy ground or ball in the backline after coming on in leaps and bounds this past year. Ben Young got on top of his opposite man in defence and ran hard all day, seemingly never tiring. At the other end, Josh McGeechan was also tackling hard and applying good pressure to prevent Cambridge from getting the ball out easily. Ewan Selkirk was too quick to tackle (and too short - getting his customary free kick for a high tackle), and almost had himself a long range goal.

Jesus, anything but meek and mild, was causing carnage at the back. Oliver Bartlett came off after a collision between the pair, allowing Dustin Stuart to enter the fray, running round the backline like a bull in a china shop. Not content with stopping there, Jesus then flew into a tackle with the Cambridge full forward, but was unfortunate to have it called high, late and off the ball. Sometimes the decisions don't go your way, and Cambridge put it through for a major. Still, it was a long time before the Cambridge forward line went anywhere near him.

At the other end, captain fantastic, Dan Tracey was busy creating opportunities for himself and those around him, bagging a behind and putting ex-captain and Varsity specialist Dave Llewellyn into space for another Oxford goal.

Cambridge struck back with a behind and a goal created by their elusively quick number 16 in the midfield. The tabs, with many GAA players as ever, used quick handballs and ran the footy to create space. This match wasn't going to be a walk in the park, despite how it may seem from this (admittedly slightly biased) account.

Toby Lees, playing in his first Varsity (and possibly last, unless we get permission from the Pope for him to return next year) picked up a mark in the forward line from another Hamer bullet, but pushed it slightly wide for a behind. At the halftime orange break, Oxford led 6.2.38 - 3.1.19.

Cambridge came out fighting in the third quarter, playing rough in an attempt to provoke a reaction from Oxford. A notably bizarre incident involved Ell Neame being taken hostage in a headlock. Matt McGilvray saw his opportunity to break his "jersey-punch duck", and made his outrage known.

James Kennedy fired back with a monster goal that had the crowd discussing whether 9 point super goals should be introduced to the Varsity derby. It was helped on its way by some selfless shepherding from Flounder, Ben 'Pigeon' Hunn, and Dan (and a Cambridge defender who chose to go for the Oxford forwards rather than stop the bouncing ball from rolling through). Had Pigeon known what would happen in the next quarter, he probably would have poked it through himself.

As Cambridge tired, Elliot Neame started to use his pace to break out of contests and into free space. He belted one home from 30 meters and wheeled round to celebrate, unfortunately without realising that it had drifted wide at the last moment. Fortunately for Ell, he got his chance only moments later from the same spot, and his next one was even greater (described by Jess 'wish I'd remembered suncream' Testro, as ‘Dangerfield-esque’).

Hugo 'Big Cat' Batten couldn't hold onto on the next bomb in the forward line, but regathered and charged through a weak Cambridge tackle to kick a goal from 30m out. The Cambridge shenanigans earlier in the quarter had failed to significantly alter the flow of the game, and now Tab morale was starting to take damage. Almost as much damage was done to Hugo Batten's cherished social media presence, as alumni Stranks and Nicholls, bored with proceedings and armed with an old password for the OUARFC Twitter account, amused themselves with a classic character assassination.

At the end of the quarter, the Big Cat online brand was in tatters, and Oxford were up 9.5.59 - 3.2.20, with one hand on the trophy.

Oxford started the 4th quarter in high spirits, and uncontested possessions allowed them to move the ball around the ground as they pleased (including an unorthodox kick from Flounder, not into the forward line but backwards to JK in midfield, Barcelona-esque). Mitch Robertson did admirably, playing simultaneously in the forward and backlines after a whiteboard malfunction, but, as with everything, took it calmly in his stride. Meanwhile, the Oxford bench were kept busy, all the substitutes got a run around, Brad Jordan particularly showing his ultra-marathon stamina as he kept running and running til his Cambridge opposite couldn’t keep up.

Flounder and Grey had rotated excellently all day, and Flounder Wylie grabbed his 3rd of the day with a howitzer from the centre square to spark pandemonium in the crowds.

Meanwhile in the back line, there wasn't much going on (apart from Jesus finishing what he had started and re-injuring Bartlett as they both went up to contest the ball). Genie 'Fist' Duff saw his opportunity to sneak further up the ground, and Geoff Pascoe, sensing history in the making, provided him with a well weighted pass. Genie resisted the urge to punch it away as far as possible and took the mark. The crowd went wild as Genie went back and slotted the goal, and other defenders started to ask the question - "How hard can slotting goals be?". Well, after more goals from Dylan and a Tab, we had the opportunity to find out. Step forward Ben Hunn.

Pidge has been a stalwart of the Oxford backline for a number of years, but sadly the opportunity never really arrived for him at the other end. As a defender who has never contributed much in front of goal either, I don't want to be too harsh on Pidge. Let's just say that after a neat mark, his effort at goal neither went very far, nor very straight. He turned sheepishly to the bench to find Seb Wylie grinning from ear to ear.

The game ended with more forays into Cambridge territory, but Oxford were unable to add any more goals. At the final whistle there were wild celebrations, a ropey rendition of The Old Dark Navy Blues and beers all round. Oxford had won the 96th Varsity 12.8.80 - 4.4.28. A big thanks to the umpires and Cambridge, who put on an excellent function at the Athletics club after the game. Josh Combs excelled himself in the traditional post match boat race, seeing off the first and last pints with a terrifying efficiency.

There were a number of factors that led to Oxford's victory, from the ruck dominance of Jack, the goal threat posed by Dylan and Seb, the uncompromising defence of Genie and Jesus. But ultimately the victory can be attributed to the depth of talent within the Oxford team, and the improvement throughout the year of all players. The likes of Matt McGilvray, James Kennedy, Phil Hamer, Grey Johnston and the other Oxford men racked up significant possessions, and were able to deliver well into the forward line. Cambridge looked brightest when individual players had moments of brilliance. Oxford put in a true team performance, and were at no stage over-reliant on individual players and moments (though there were many). Oxford played their most complete match for a long time, and with key players sticking around next year, the future is bright for OUARFC.

Score: Oxford GAA Lots - OUARFC Not many

Saturday November 19th saw the annual OUARFC foray into the world of mystery and unknown. I'm not talking about Footy trip, but the baffling and strange sport of International Rules, a hybrid between AFL and Gaelic Football. Having arrived too late for the explanation of the rules from Tommy ‘Turncoat’ Griffin, I assumed everything would be the same, just with a different ball. Needless to say, I was gravely mistaken, and a ball that bounced predictably turned out to be far more challenging than it sounded.

From the first bounce, it was clear that the Irish familiarity with the Gaelic ball was matched only by their determination to win. With territory and possession in their favour, the Irish launched wave after wave of attack at our goals. The defence of Ollie B, Mitch H and Ben Y battled on against their Irish opposites, who were all seemingly called Conor. The slight consolation was that their front line were still finding the radar, and the score could have been much worse than it was. Regardless, we went into the quarter-time break with a lot to change. Possession was deemed key, too much ball was kicked blindly out of defence and returned with a vengeance. Running the ball was the way forward, 'tiki-taka' hand passes encouraged, DanTracey led from the front.

The second quarter started better and showed glimpses of what was possible for OUARFC, though I'd be lying if I said the Irish weren't building a healthy lead. But not at the rate they had been before, as Australian hand-passes were strung together, and possession partly denied from the Irish. However, old habits die hard, and OUARFC were still found guilty of putting the ball on the hoof and hoping for the best. One particular highlight was made by Louis ‘Two Votes’ Jamart, who dropped from half forward back into midfield, running hard and breaking tackles. There he was joined by Brad and Ben Scholl, making his debut with some great touches in midfield and the towering 'Inspector' Valmadre, showing his usefulness around the park in a game which was short on his usual diet of ruck taps. The girls held their own against their Irish counterparts, Gen, Emma M and Alexis all played admirably, Alexis in particular made some great tackles (including on Gen in the warm up!).

By the third quarter we were starting to get the hang of it slightly more. ‘Pidge’ Hunn took over the refereeing, allowing Tommy ‘Turncoat’ Griffin time to run in the forward line. Wrong forward line though. Tireless running from Josh, Ewen and Dylan, summer signings for OUARFC, helped counter Irish numbers around the ball. Toby played his strongest match so far for OUARFC, winning taps and tackling hard. The play even found itself in the Irish half, and the ignominy of getting 'nilled' was finally avoided with a wildly celebrated point. Wild applause echoed around the ground, none louder than from Jess ’No 1 fan’ Testro, who was sadly unable to play after a disastrous catching incident earlier in the season. This was followed by an absolute belter from Ell who smashed it past the keeper for the full 6 points. Mark, brought along by Mitch and on a quest to play niche sports at Oxford, also grabbed a point. The comeback was on.

By the fourth quarter, OUARFC started to hit their stride. Horspath was once again home to great footy as we applied the hard-learned lessons of the first three quarters.  We even persevered with the round ball, despite calls to bring out a Sherrin. The larger ground at Horspath became an increasingly important factor as the entire team pushed hard and the lungs burned. By the final whistle, we were all pretty knackered, but had enjoyed ourselves greatly, despite the one sided scoreboard.

All in all there was a lot to take away from the match. It was played in great spirits, and helped to cement closer ties between the two clubs. The counter-attacking speed of the game is also something we can bring back to our AFL. And at least the All Blacks won that night, so the score that should really be remembered is Ireland 1-1 Antipodes. In all seriousness, if anyone remembers the actual score, please let me know!