Wheeler watching with a Cambridge bias

Legendary Leicester, England and Lions hooker Peter Wheeler will be at Twickenham this Thursday to watch the game’s most prestigious amateur fixture.

The 130th showing of the Varsity Match between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge is expected to draw a crowd of close to 30,000 as the unpaid ranks of the game enjoy a deserved stint in the spotlight.

Wheeler has strong links to Cambridge thanks to sons Ben and Joe who picked up a total of five Blues between them during their time at Grange Road.

The Tigers executive director played his own rugby during the days of amateurism and he insists Thursday’s historic encounter still has an important role to play despite the rise of professionalism.

“The Varsity Match is definitely still important. It’s a unique occasion,” said Wheeler, who won 41 caps for Englandand seven for the Lions.

“I shall go down and meet some mates there because it’s a rugby day out that’s different from anything else.

“People aren’t working on the day, they’re relaxed and I won’t be as worried about the result as I would be if Leicester were playing.

“Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m committed to Cambridge. I had two boys study there and that means a lot. Ben got two Blues and Joe got three and I spent a lot of Monday nights in the freezing cold at Grange Road watching them play.”

Cambridge, who head to Twickenham looking to avenge last season’s 21-10 defeat to the Dark Blues, include a former East Midlands team-mate of Manu Tuilagi in Oakham School oldboy Oliver Wolfe but Oxford have even more substantial links to Wheeler’s Leicester.

Captain John Carter is a former Tigers,Sale and Doncaster back rower; hooker Govind Oliver was a member of theTigersAcademy and 19-year-old scrum-half Sam Egerton was previously part of the Tigers EPDG.