Seb Fitzgerald booted Oxford to a hat-trick of Varsity Match victories as his penalty treble dominated the first tryless university showdown for 20 years yesterday.
FitzGerald bisected Cambridge's posts three times during the opening 21 minutes, but Oxford failed to capitalise on their forward supremacy. Their pack contained three internationals (Aussie Brett Robinson, Canadian prop Kevin Tkachuk and USA tighthead Ray Lehner) and they enjoyed set-piece control.
Cambridge dug deep, fighting back through two Sam Howard penalties and keeping Oxford nerves jangling into injury time.
But Oxford, whose last Twickenham treble was achieved between 1969 and 1971, were not to be denied as former ACT Brumbies backrow man Robinson lifted the MMC Trophy.
Countless handling errors, weak tactical kicking and poor decision-making compounded both teams' attempts to string together sustained passages of play.
OXFORD: N Marsh; W Rubie, L Sherriff, S Adlen, W Ellerby; S FitzGerald, D Taberner ; K Tkachuk, P Nicholas, R Lehner, A Russell, C Edwards, S Miall, J Bolger, B Robinson.
CAMBRIDGE: A Newmarch; S Moffat, S Adams, M Rivaro, J Baker; S Howard, M Chapman-Smith; A O'Brien, C Collins, D Brett, A Innes, E Mallett, M Graham, D Blaikie, M Count.
Referee: S Lander (RFU).
