Welsh Varsity

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.

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.

As of 2019, Swansea have won 13 of the 23 Varsity Matches played, while Cardiff have won nine, including a record 78–7 victory in the most recent match on 10 April 2019. The only drawn match came in 2001.

Summary

Overall

Details	Played	Won by Cardiff	Won by Swansea	Drawn	Cardiff points	Swansea points
In Cardiff	12	5	6	1	254	189
In Swansea	7	2	5	0	106	167
Neutral venue	4	2	2	0	53	58
Overall	23	9	13	1	413	414

Records

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

Record	Cardiff	Swansea
Longest winning streak	3 (2017–present)	4 (1997–2000)
Largest points for
Home	78 (2019)	49 (1998)
Away	27 (2015)	28 (2011)
Largest winning margin
Home	71 (2019)	36 (1998)
Away	8 (2018)	15 (1997)

Results

Year	Location	Winner	Swansea	Cardiff	Attendance
1997	Cardiff Arms Park	Swansea	26	11	984
1998	St. Helen's	Swansea	49	13	1,600
1999	Cardiff Arms Park	Swansea	17	13
2000	St. Helen's	Swansea	28	18	3,300
2001	Cardiff Arms Park	Draw	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
2008	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	9	19	8,100
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+
2016	Liberty Stadium	Swansea	16	10	20,435
2017	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	15	35
2018	Liberty Stadium	Cardiff	15	23
2019	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	7	78
2020	Liberty Stadium	Swansea	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

Notable participants

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

•  Alun Wyn Jones (Swansea University)
•  Richie Pugh (Swansea University)
•  Dwayne Peel (Swansea University)

Welsh Boat Race

Main article: 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 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.

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.

• American football
• Archery
• Athletics
• Badminton
• Basketball
• Boxing
• Canoe polo
• Cricket
• Cycling
• Equestrian
• Fencing
• Field hockey
• Football
• Football (IMG)
• Football (staff)
• Golf
• Karate
• Lacrosse
• Netball
• Netball (staff)
• Rifle
• Rugby union (freshers)
• Sailing
• Squash
• Swimming
• Tae kwon do
• Tennis
• Triathlon
• Ultimate frisbee
• Volleyball
• Water polo

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.

External links

• Official Welsh Varsity Website
• Official Swansea University Welsh Varsity microsite
• Cardiff University RFC - Varsity
• Cardiff University Student Union - Sports
• Swansea University RFC - Varsity
• Swansea University Student Union - Varsity
• Swansea University Hockey Club