Feelings can’t compare says Karl

Oxford vice captain Karl Outen insists the difference between winning and losing the Varsity Match couldn’t be any greater.

Outen was part of the Dark Blues’ successful Varsity side this time last year, some 12 months after tasting defeat in the same fixture.

The affable second row admits that victory in the Varsity is a truly incredible feeling but that losing out on the same stage brings about emotions he never wishes to experience again.

And while much has been made of the comfortable nature ofOxford’s 21-10 triumph last time around, the pain of previous defeats is ensuring Outen and co are seeing Thursday’s encounter as an entirely clean slate.

“I started the game last season but I was involved as a replacement in the year before when we lost as well. To have that contrast between this absolute elation with the confirmation of all the hard work you’ve put in compared to the feeling of dejection is incredible,” said Outen.

“I’ll never forget the feeling in the changing room after we lost in 2009. It’s impossible to compare the two: they’re polar opposites.

“When we won last year we enjoyed it but we were very quick to draw a line under it. We knew that if we even tried to look back on it we’d get rolled over this year.

“We’ve been very conscious of treating this year as a completely new season and a completely new challenge and hopefully we’ll experience victory as a new team.”

With just 24 hours until kick off, things are really hotting up for both sides as their season-defining moment fast approaches.

The final week has flown by for the players, with Outen and his Oxford colleagues fully aware of the differences between the build up to this fixture and any other.

Those differences will continue on matchday when close to 30,000 fans will turn up at Twickenham to watch a clash that means so much more than any other fixture for these two historic rivals.

“Everyone’s excited more than anything else. We’re just really keen to get into it. The nerves start to creep in a little bit but we’re just super keen to get into the game,” added Outen, a former Harlequins Academy forward studying Materials Science, Economics & Management.
 
“The last week flies past. It’s a little bit different to your normal match-week routine as you have things like your official Blues photo and then coming down to stay in London on Wednesday night.

“The team announcement made it a little more real, too, especially with Cambridge there at the same time. That really brought it home.

“The boys who have been there before we tell you that the first 10 minutes of a Varsity Match are chaotic. It goes by in the blink of an eye. There’s so much pressure and so much adrenalin going through you that all you want is to get an early touch of the ball and settle into the game.

“Once the game starts you’re so involved in what you’re doing that you try and block the crowd out and just focus on what you’re doing and what’s in hand. But when you’re warming up you notice the crowd more.

“When they do the anthems you can pick out a few faces and that’s when you really realise the scale of the occasion. But once you start playing you’re much more worried about what’s in front of you rather than who’s watching.

“Your mindset and the intensity for the Varsity Match is higher than for any other game because you’ve worked all year for this chance.”