Welsh Varsity

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The Welsh Varsity takes place every year between Cardiff University and Swansea University. The many sports represented at this event include rugby union, hockey, cricket, squash, badminton, lacrosse, rowing, golf, basketball, football, American football netball, 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 15,000 supporters. [1]

Rugby match

Over the previous few years, the rugby match has been held in Bridgend at Brewery Field, home of Bridgend RFC, roughly half-way between the two cities. The match has previously been played in Cardiff Arms Park and St Helens, returning to Cardiff Arms Park for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 matches. The 2010 match was played at Swansea's Liberty Stadium for the first time. The 2011 match was held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the national stadium of Wales.

Winners of rugby match

Year Location Winner/Holder Swansea Cardiff Attendance
1997 (10/03/97) Cardiff Arms Park Swansea 26 11 984
1998 (19/11/97) St Helen's Swansea 49 13 1,600
1999 Cardiff Arms Park Swansea 17 13 unknown
2000 St Helen's Swansea 28 18 3,300
2001 Cardiff Arms Park Swansea 10 10 2,900
2002 St Helen's Swansea 21 3 3,100
2003 Brewery Field Cardiff 12 19 3,000
2004 Brewery Field Swansea 25 11 2,900
2005 Brewery Field Swansea 16 8 3,300
2006 Brewery Field Cardiff 5 15 3,600
2007 Cardiff Arms Park Swansea 18 0 5,200[2]
2008 Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff 9 19 8,100[3]
2009 Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff 6 9 10,800
2010 Liberty Stadium Swansea 16 12 11,400
2011 Millennium Stadium Swansea 28 18 14,789
2012 Millennium Stadium Cardiff 13 33 15,622
2013 Millennium Stadium Swansea 21 13 14,103
2014 Millennium Stadium Swansea 19 15 15,835
2015 Liberty Stadium Cardiff 22 27 16,875+[4]

The Welsh Boat Race

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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 has, so far, been 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.

Winners

The Hockey

The Men's hockey fixture has featured many past and current international players and historically is a Cardiff dominated fixture. However, Swansea have won the past two games convincingly setting up a hotly anticipated fixture in 2016.

Other sports

As of 2011 the following sports are also played with the university winning in the most sports taking home the Varsity Shield.

  • Men's American football
  • Women's Badminton
  • Men's Badminton
  • Women's Basketball
  • Men's Basketball
  • Men's Cricket
  • Women's Fencing
  • Men's Fencing
  • Women's Football
  • Men's Football
  • Golf
  • Women's Hockey
  • Men's Hockey
  • Women's Lacrosse
  • Men's Lacrosse
  • Mountaineering
  • Women's Netball
  • Freshers Men's Rugby
  • Women's Rugby
  • Sailing
  • Women's Squash
  • Men's Squash
  • Surf
  • Tae Kwon Do
  • Men's Tennis
  • Women's Tennis
  • Ultimate Frisbee
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding

To date, Cardiff have won the shield every year since it was introduced in 2002.[citation needed]

Coverage

Xpress Radio, Cardiff University's radio station, and Xtreme Radio, Swansea University's radio station, both co-operate during Varsity; the University newspapers also cover the event. Since 2009, Cardiff Union Television (CUTV) have covered the event. In 2011, the Welsh channel S4C broadcast the game live for the first time.

References

External links