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:Welsh Varsity

{{Short description|Annual university sport event in Wales}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2015}}

The Welsh Varsity is an annual sporting event contested by Cardiff University and Swansea University, usually in early April. The sports contested include rugby union, hockey, cricket, squash, badminton, lacrosse, rowing, golf, basketball, football, American football, ultimate frisbee, netball, volleyball, fencing and an array of other sports. Profits go to charity. The event is held over the course of a week, with some sports competing over a weekend due to the nature of the sport. The majority of the games are held on the Wednesday afternoon, with the centrepiece rugby union match between the two sides held in the evening and often attended by in excess of 18,000 supporters.{{Cite web|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/welsh-varsity-2015-bigger-one-9090422|title=A crowd of more than 15,000 is expected for the 2015 Welsh Varsity match|first=Alex|last=Bywater|date=21 April 2015|website=WalesOnline}}

Rugby union

The showpiece event of the Welsh Varsity is the rugby union fixture played between the men's teams of the two universities. The event began in 1997 and for the first six years alternated venues between the Cardiff Arms Park and St. Helen's in Swansea. Between 2003 and 2006, it was played at Brewery Field, home of Bridgend RFC, halfway between the two cities. It returned to the Arms Park for three years from 2007 to 2009, followed by a year at Swansea's Liberty Stadium. Since then, the match has been divided between the Liberty Stadium and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.{{cite web |url=https://welshvarsity.com/rugby |title=The Rugby |publisher=Welsh Varsity |accessdate=11 April 2019}}

As of 2025, Swansea have won 15 of the 27 Varsity Matches played, while Cardiff have won 11, including a record 78–7 victory on 10 April 2019. The only drawn match came in 2001.

=Summary=

==Overall==

class="wikitable sortable"
width="125"| Details

!width="125"| Played

!width="125"| Won by Cardiff

!width="125"| Won by Swansea

!width="125"| Drawn

!width="125"| Cardiff points

!width="125"| Swansea points

In Cardiff

| 13

| 7

| 6

| 1

| 273

| 204

In Swansea

| 11

| 2

| 8

| 0

| 119

| 187

Neutral venue

| 4

| 2

| 2

| 0

| 53

| 58

Overall

! 27

! 11

! 15

! 1

! 552

! 493

==Records==

Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.

class="wikitable"
Record

!Cardiff

!Swansea

Longest winning streak

|3 (2017–2019)

|4 (1997–2000)

colspan=3 align=center|Largest points for
Home

|78 (2019)

|49 (1998)

Away

|27 (2015)

|28 (2011)

colspan=3 align=center|Largest winning margin
Home

|71 (2019)

|36 (1998)

Away

|8 (2018)

|15 (1997)

=Results=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year

! Location

! Winner

! Swansea

! Cardiff

style="background: #AFA"

| 1997

Cardiff Arms ParkSwansea2611
style="background: #AFA"

| 1998

St. Helen'sSwansea4913
style="background: #AFA"

| 1999

Cardiff Arms ParkSwansea137
style="background: #AFA"

| 2000

St. Helen'sSwansea2818
style="background: #DDD"

| 2001

Cardiff Arms ParkDraw1010
style="background: #AFA"

| 2002

St Helen'sSwansea213
style="background: #F88"

| 2003

Brewery FieldCardiff1219
style="background: #AFA"

| 2004

Brewery FieldSwansea2511
style="background: #AFA"

| 2005

Brewery FieldSwansea168
style="background: #F88"

| 2006

Brewery FieldCardiff515
style="background: #AFA"

| 2007

Cardiff Arms ParkSwansea180
style="background: #F88"

| 2008

Cardiff Arms ParkCardiff919
style="background: #F88"

| 2009

Cardiff Arms ParkCardiff69
style="background: #AFA"

| 2010

Liberty StadiumSwansea1612
style="background: #AFA"

| 2011

Millennium StadiumSwansea2818
style="background: #F88"

| 2012

Millennium StadiumCardiff1333
style="background: #AFA"

| 2013

Millennium StadiumSwansea2113
style="background: #AFA"

| 2014

Millennium StadiumSwansea1915
style="background: #F88"

| 2015

Liberty StadiumCardiff2227
style="background: #AFA"

| 2016

Liberty StadiumSwansea1610
style="background: #F88"

| 2017

Millennium StadiumCardiff1535
style="background: #F88"

| 2018

Liberty StadiumCardiff1523
style="background: #F88"

| 2019

Millennium StadiumCardiff778
style="background: #DDD"

| 2020

Liberty StadiumSwanseacolspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
style="background: #DDD"

|2021

|N/A

|N/A

| colspan="2" |Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

style="background: #AFA"

|2022

|Liberty Stadium

|Swansea

|20

|13

style="background: #F88"

|2023

|Cardiff Arms Park

|Cardiff

|15

|19

style="background: #AFA"

|2024

|Swansea.com Stadium

|Swansea

|44

|28

style="background: #F88"

| 2025

Millennium StadiumCardiff069

=Notable participants=

Some of those who have played in the Welsh Varsity Match have gone on to win international honours. These include:{{cite web |title=The Rugby |url=https://welshvarsity.com/rugby |publisher=Welsh Varsity |accessdate=11 April 2019}}

Welsh Boat Race

{{Main|The Welsh Boat Race}}

The inaugural Welsh Boat Race was held in 2006. The Welsh Boat Race has continued to grow due to support from the respective athletic unions, and sponsorship deals. The venue for the boat race has historically been the River Taff, but the venue for 2010 was the River Tawe. The event now takes place in whichever city is hosting the Varsity like most of the other sports. The event was historically held on a Wednesday to coincide with the other Varsity games but due to increasing popularity from alumni, parents and the general public, the event has now been moved to the weekend.{{cite web |last1=WEROW |title=Welsh Boat Race ends in a two-all draw |url=https://werow.co.uk/welsh-boat-race-ends-in-a-two-all-draw/ |website=WEROW |accessdate=11 April 2019}}

Varsity Shield

Over the course of the day, several sports are contested, with a point awarded for each event won. The university with the most points at the end of the day is awarded the Welsh Varsity Shield. In 2017 the shield was won by Swansea University for the first time.{{Cite web |last=Southcombe |first=Matthew |date=9 May 2017 |title=Cardiff University have just been stripped of their Varsity title |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/cardiff-university-stripped-welsh-varsity-13009682 |website=WalesOnline}}

{{columns-list|*American football

  • Archery
  • Athletics
  • Badminton
  • Basketball
  • Boxing
  • Canoe polo
  • Cricket
  • Cycling
  • Equestrian
  • Fencing
  • Field hockey
  • Football
  • Football (IMG)
  • Football (staff)
  • Golf
  • Karate
  • Lacrosse
  • Motorsport
  • Netball
  • Netball (staff)
  • Rifle
  • Rugby league
  • Rugby union (freshers)
  • Sailing
  • Squash
  • Swimming
  • Tae kwon do
  • Tennis
  • Triathlon
  • Ultimate frisbee
  • Volleyball
  • Water polo|colwidth=14em}}

Coverage

The Welsh Varsity event is covered in its entirety by both universities' student newspapers and radio stations (Cardiff's Xpress Radio and Swansea's Xtreme Radio). Since 2009, it has also been covered by Cardiff Union Television (CUTV). The men's rugby union match is also broadcast live nationally by the Welsh-language channel S4C.{{cite news |date=28 March 2011 |title=Varsity match between Cardiff & Swansea to be shown live on TV |website=bucs.org.uk |publisher=British Universities & Colleges Sport |url=https://www.bucs.org.uk/news.asp?section=8&itemid=7498 |accessdate=15 April 2019}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.welshvarsity.com/ Official Welsh Varsity Website]
  • [http://www.swansea.ac.uk/varsity/ Official Swansea University Welsh Varsity microsite]
  • [http://www.cardiffunirfc.co.uk/page.php?id=55 Cardiff University RFC - Varsity]
  • [http://www.cardiffstudents.com/activities#sports Cardiff University Student Union - Sports]
  • [http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/swanseauniversityrfc/ Swansea University RFC - Varsity]
  • {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090430075213/http://www.suau.co.uk/varsity Swansea University Student Union - Varsity]}}
  • [http://swanseaunihockey.wix.com/swanseaunihockey Swansea University Hockey Club]

Category:Rugby union competitions in Wales

Category:Cardiff University

Category:Student sport rivalries in the United Kingdom

Category:Sport at Swansea University

Category:Sport in Cardiff

Category:University and college rugby union competitions