Light Blues looking to their law centre

Last year Stephen Cottrell got the blues. A calcified haematoma in a muscle robbed the talented centre of his first Cambridge Blue. But this year things are looking up, Cottrell is fit to play; he is also captain, the first non-Blue to lead Cambridge University since Ian Peck back in 1979.

New Zealander Cottrell - amazingly not the oldest man on the field even at 28, that honour goes to Oxford's Canadian hooker Karl Svoboda who is 33 - did not come up to Cambridge because of the rugby. He enjoys the game and even made a preliminary All Blacks World Cup trial last year, but it was the academic kudos of a Varsity degree that attracted him.

"The chance to study for a masters in law at Cambridge University, that was the reason for coming," said Cottrell, who has a degree in commerce and law from Otago University and is now reading for an MPhil in criminology at St Edmund's College. "When I got accepted it was too good an opportunity to miss."

But the game is still important to Cottrell. "I enjoy rugby over here very much," he said. "There's a lot of parallels with Otago University, where I've played a lot of my club rugby. You've got young, talented, enthusiastic guys who want to play an attacking game. Also the advantage in not being in a League structure is that we can afford to try different things."

Cottrell, whose New Zealand law degree qualifies him as both a barrister and a solicitor, is fairly dismissive of his appearance in the All Black trial. "I was in the first extended All Black training squad," he said in a legally matter-of-fact courtroom way, "but even if I had stayed at home I would never have been in the 35-man squad last December.

"Hopefully I've brought something of the All Black philosophy with me, but I haven't deliberately thought back to what we did at home and tried to do it here. We have two very experienced coaches at Cambridge in Ged Glynn and Tony Rodgers. As captain I run sessions how I want, but I have been happy to have my input and leave the bulk of the running of training to Ged and Tony. I'd like to think I've introduced a few ideas but it hasn't been a conscious effort."

Cottrell has had some experience of captaincy. He led New Zealand Universities into the final of the Students World Cup, where they lost to France. As a member of his country's development squad he went on tour to Argentina, so he is no stranger to the big occasion.

"I played in a Ranfurly Shield Challenge where there was a crowd of maybe 30,000 or 40,000 people," he said, "but the thought of playing in front of 75,000 people is absolutely fantastic.

"Before I came up to Cambridge I had only heard a little about the Varsity match. But once I arrived I quickly took on board all the history and traditions of the club. I am looking forward to it immensely; the build- up to it and the fact that this has been going on for 124 years. There are photos around the club of the 1885 team in the same sort of light blue we play in today. It is a special club and a special occasion, I'm delighted to be a part of it."