The universities of Oxford and Cambridge have reason to count their blessings this term. The day when they announced their teams for the 127th university match at Twickenham next Thursday coincided with the news from their sponsor, Nomura, that 1,000 jobs in London will be lost by the securities company over the next three months.

There are relative riches within both teams this season since Nomura took over support for the annual game - for the next four years - from Lehman Brothers. There are 50-cap internationals on both sides of the blue divide, Anton Oliver, the former New Zealand hooker, at Oxford and Dan Vickerman, the former Australia lock, at Cambridge, together with three other capped players, Mark Ranby (New Zealand), Doug Rowe (United States) and Stan McKeen (Canada).

The fixture demands this kind of presence to sustain its profile, nor is it harmed by the clutch of England Under-18 players who have chosen to extend their education rather than take the professional route immediately. That quartet include the Oxford wing, Sean Morris, from Westcliff High School in Southend, who is that rare creature in the modern university match, a freshman Blue at 19.

Even better, there is evidence to suggest that more young players with the chance to play for a Guinness Premiership club are going through the interview process for both universities. Morris, for example, spent his gap year with Saracens before a groin injury brought his season to a premature end. He will now have the opportunity to compensate for that if he can win selection next spring for the joint Oxbridge tour to Japan to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Keio University club.

How they line up

Cambridge University: J Richards (Hughes Hall); *J Wellwood (St Edmund's), *C Lewis (St Catharine's), M Ranby (St Edmund's), *J Greenwood (Hughes Hall); *A Reid (St John's), D Rowe (Hughes Hall); N Conlon (St Edmund's), M Crockett (St Edmund's), *J Dawson (St Edmund's, captain), M Wilson (Selwyn), D Vickerman (Hughes Hall), W Jones (St Edmund's), *T Malaney (St Edmund's), *T Boynton (Hughes Hall).
Replacements: A Daniel (St Edmund's), P Crossley (Homerton), C O'Keefe (St Edmund's), *C Rees (St Catharine's), *J Wheeler (St Edmund's), R McGuire (Hughes Hall), S MacLellan (St John's).

Oxford University: *C Mahony (Keble); S Morris (Somerville), J Burnett (University), *T Gregory (Kellogg), T Catling (Pembroke); R Swanson (New), *B McKerchar (Keble); *R Lutton (Linacre), A Oliver (Worcester), W Thompson (St Cross), I Kench (St Cross), *B Payne (St Peter's), S McKeen (Harris Manchester), *P Clarke (St Cross, captain), *P Wright (University). Replacements: *D Rosen (Worcester), *K Davis (Linacre) or W Johnson (Pembroke), N van Zyl (Green/Templeton), C Davies (St Edmund Hall), T Henry (Linacre), A Cheesman (St Edmund Hall), W Browne (Balliol).

Referee: W Barnes (England).

*denotes a Blue