Oxford University head coach James Wade saluted captain John Carter after yesterday’s win in the 130th Varsity Match at Twickenham.

“John had an amazing game,” Wade said.

“When he came back on he was like a wounded animal and it actually worked for us rather than against us.

“The captain is everything and I think he gave a captain’s performance today.

“There are a lot of people who would not have come back on, let alone run around the way he did.

“I thought he led by example and he has done all year.”

Wade, who said he will stay on as coach for “another year or two”, added: “Our spine played well.

“We have worked all year on moves and I thought that the boys were very clinical and they did everything that had to do.”

Asked how he felt to win in his first Varsity Match at the helm, Wade replied: “It is weird. I am not an Oxford person, I didn’t go there as a student, far from it.

“It is a different environment and you get to meet a bunch of lads, who just sacrifice so much.

“I can’t tell you how much these guys sacrifice and how much training they have done along with their studies.”

Man-of-the-match Karl Outen added: “I have ended up with the award today, but from one to 15 we were awesome.

“In the second half, we managed to give ourselves a platform up front, which is pretty tough in a game like this. Once we had done that, we had the confidence to throw the ball around in the backs.

Cambridge captain Matt Guinness-King, who retired after the game, said: “I think there was a ten to 15-minute period where we went to sleep.

“I think the big difference was that Oxford were able to sustain a high level of play for the full 80 minutes.”