Welsh Varsity

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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. [1]

Contents

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. [2]

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. [2]

Summary

Overall

DetailsPlayedWon by CardiffWon by SwanseaDrawnCardiff pointsSwansea points
In Cardiff13761273204
In Swansea11280119187
Neutral venue42205358
Overall2711151552493

Records

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

RecordCardiffSwansea
Longest winning streak3 (2017–2019)4 (1997–2000)
Largest points for
Home78 (2019)49 (1998)
Away27 (2015)28 (2011)
Largest winning margin
Home71 (2019)36 (1998)
Away8 (2018)15 (1997)

Results

YearLocationWinnerSwanseaCardiff
1997 Cardiff Arms Park Swansea2611
1998 St. Helen's Swansea4913
1999Cardiff Arms ParkSwansea137
2000St. Helen'sSwansea2818
2001Cardiff Arms ParkDraw1010
2002St Helen'sSwansea213
2003 Brewery Field Cardiff1219
2004Brewery FieldSwansea2511
2005Brewery FieldSwansea168
2006Brewery FieldCardiff515
2007Cardiff Arms ParkSwansea180
2008Cardiff Arms ParkCardiff919
2009Cardiff Arms ParkCardiff69
2010 Liberty Stadium Swansea1612
2011 Millennium Stadium Swansea2818
2012Millennium StadiumCardiff1333
2013Millennium StadiumSwansea2113
2014Millennium StadiumSwansea1915
2015Liberty StadiumCardiff2227
2016Liberty StadiumSwansea1610
2017Millennium StadiumCardiff1535
2018Liberty StadiumCardiff1523
2019Millennium StadiumCardiff778
2020Liberty StadiumSwanseaCancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021N/AN/ACancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 Liberty Stadium Swansea2013
2023Cardiff Arms ParkCardiff1519
2024 Swansea.com Stadium Swansea4428
2025Millennium StadiumCardiff069

Notable participants

Some of those who have played in the Welsh Varsity Match have gone on to win international honours. These include: [3]

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. [4]

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. [5]

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. [6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bywater, Alex (21 April 2015). "A crowd of more than 15,000 is expected for the 2015 Welsh Varsity match". WalesOnline.
  2. 1 2 "The Rugby". Welsh Varsity. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "The Rugby". Welsh Varsity. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  4. ↑ WEROW. "Welsh Boat Race ends in a two-all draw". WEROW. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  5. ↑ Southcombe, Matthew (9 May 2017). "Cardiff University have just been stripped of their Varsity title". WalesOnline.
  6. ↑ "Varsity match between Cardiff & Swansea to be shown live on TV". bucs.org.uk. British Universities & Colleges Sport. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
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