Cambridge University RUFC lose former England international Toby Flood to serious injury in victory over Steele Bodger XV

A genuine mixture of emotions filled the air at Cambridge University RUFC this afternoon.

On the one hand there was delight as the Light Blues recorded a 36-26 victory over a Steele Bodger XV in what is widely regarded as being the second most important date in the club’s calendar behind the Varsity Match.

But there will be more than a tinge of disappointment with the news that their captain – former England international and World Cup finalist Toby Flood – looks set to miss March’s showpiece contest at Twickenham after suffering a serious injury.

Today’s encounter at Grange Road was a mere three minutes old when Flood, capped 60 times by his country, went down in front of the far-side stand. Scans and X-rays will confirm the full extent of the damage but the early fear is that he sustained a dislocation and break of the ankle, with potentially a knee issue as well.

Head coach James Shanahan said: “Unfortunately it looks pretty bad. I think it’s a dislocation of the ankle and a potential leg break and maybe some knee damage.

“I saw the incident 50 metres away. It was an illegal clear out and I’m disappointed the officials haven’t seen it or dealt with it.

“I’d be very surprised if he was back in time for the Varsity. It’s a real hard one for him and the squad.

“He’s our captain but also it’s Toby Flood – it’s a massive loss.”

Despite the big blow, Shanahan was pleased with how his young side reacted to the loss of such an influential figure.

He added: “Anybody getting an injury like that can affect the squad but we reacted well. The boys regrouped, had to defend for a long period and did that well before imposing themselves a bit more. I’m proud of them for that.”

After Flood had required lengthy attention on the field of play it was Cambridge who edged in front when Tim Andrew went over in the left hand corner and Max Loveridge – taking on the kicking duties – did the honours with the conversion.

However, the remainder of the half saw the Bodgers utilise their physical advantage. To Cambridge’s credit they defended well for large parts, but tries from Christopher Davies (converted by Matthew Hodgson) and Chris Wearmouth sent the visitors into the break 12-7 in front.

And when Sam Pointon’s try was converted by Tomos Miller from out wide early in the second half it looked as though the Bodgers were well on course to follow up on last year’s victory.

Yet, Cambridge started to cut out the concession of penalties and with that extra possession they ran riot as quickfire tries from Laurence Marwood, David Holdroyd and another from Andrew – two of which Loveridge converted – saw the hosts regain the lead in front of a bumper crowd that was starting to enjoy what it was seeing.

That was followed by a 10-minute period in which the Bodgers were camped deep in Cambridge territory, winning a number of line-outs and applying plenty of pressure. But the Light Blues held firm and after a quick turnover Jordan Mubako broke clear to score under the posts, providing Loveridge with the most simple of conversions.

With time running out Loveridge added his name to the try-sheet with a fine individual effort after running from deep, although he could not follow it up with the conversion, while the final say on proceedings went the way of the Bodgers and double-winning Blue Chris Bell as he dotted down.

Reflecting on the overall performance of his team, Shanahan said: “We struggled at scrum time but we’ve got a couple of young props that are still learning their trade.

“We made some changes and as the game wore on we got better at scrum time.

“Defensively we were comfortable throughout most of the match and there was only a couple of times at the ruck and out wide in the second half where they caused us problems.

“What I was happy with was our physicality in the second half. It gave us the opportunity to score those tries.

“We said at half-time that we’d looked dangerous but it was about having more opportunities with the ball. We gave quite a few penalties away in the first half but we eradicated those, got the ball and was patient.

“All of a sudden we got more possession and were able to score some great tries. It’s a good way to finish this term.”

Cambridge University RUFC: Cameron Round (Homerton), Ben Gompels (Lucy Cavendish), Laurence Marwood (St Edmund’s), Charlie Hancock (Robinson), Matt Symonds (Queens’), Charles Kantolinna (Jesus), Shawn Ingle (Magdalene), Fergus Hughes (St Edmund’s), David Holdroyd (Jesus), Toby Flood (Queens’), Tim Andrew (Jesus), Thomas Castle (Hughes Hall), Sam Odu (Gonville & Caius), Ty Wills (Magdalene)

Replacements: Ben Mills (Wolfson), Angus Peters (Wolfson), Connor Fairman (Homerton), Byron Hodge (Wolfson), Hugo Lloyd Williams (St John’s), Charles Favell (Homerton), Ikechi Mere (St John’s), Jordan Mubako (St John’s)

Steele Bodger XV: Matt Meek (Bishop’s Stortford), Miles Huppatz (Shelford), Josh Scott (Heriots), Chris Wearmouth (Tynedale), Ben Hilton (Barnstaple), Stephen Clark-Leonard (Blackheath), Dan Edgar (London Scottish), Will Hodgson (North Walsham), Chris Bell (Blackheath), Matthew Hodgson (North Walsham), Sam Pointon (Birmingham Moseley), Christopher Davies (Esher), Suwi Chibale (University of Cape Town), Joe Gatus (Old Haberdashers), Etienne Dussartre (Old Haberdashers)

Replacements: Charlie MacCallum (Blackheath), Micky Hall (Tynedale), Will Kelly (Chinnor), Stefan Nixon (Darwin), Will Kennedy (Magdalene), Dan North (Lucy Cavendish), Fin Edwards (Downing), Owen Hanford (St Catherine’s), Eoin Finn (Homerton), Tomos Miller (Homerton)