Former Wallaby lock Dan Vickerman has known many great days in rugby but he will look to add victory in the Varsity Match to his CV on Thursday when he leads Cambridge University against Oxford University.
Vickerman may be the best-known name on either side but the presence of the 55-times capped second row is by no means a guarantee of a 'Light Blue' victory at Twickenham.
The 30-year-old played in last year's fixture when he found himself up against the familiar figure of former All Black hooker Anton Oliver, appearing for Oxford.
But both ex-internationals were upstaged by Tim Catling, an unheralded English wing who played in the same schoolboy team as Danny Cipriani.
Catling, set to feature again on Thursday, did what no-one else had done in the fixture for 74 years and scored a hat-trick as Oxford won a thrilling match 33-29.
Cambridge though still lead the series 60-53 with 14 draws and Vickerman, whose team-mates this year include former Leicester fly-half Ross Broadfoot and ex-Ulster prop Niall Conlon, was quietly confident his side would return to winning ways in what is always a season-defining clash for both teams.
"It's been a good, new season for us," said Vickerman. "We've embarked on a journey and we've had some good games in preparation.
"All in all we've come together well. We're enjoying it and we're moving in the right direction." Oxford hooker Dan Rosen, who has three Varsity appearances behind him and is in his eighth year at the University, captains the 'Dark Blues'.
The Varsity Match used to be a chance to spot future internationals such as rival England fly-halves Rob Andrew (Cambridge) or Stuart Barnes (Oxford) before they'd played Test rugby.
However, the advent of the professional game has seen more players like Vickerman, set to join English Premiership side Northampton after Thursday's clash, take part in the Varsity Match once their Test careers were over rather than before they'd started.
This fixture had a reputation as a 'day out' for Oxford and Cambridge graduates working in the City of London and attendances of upwards of 50,000 were not unknown a decade ago.
But the global economic recession appears to have taken its toll on the match's once buoyant crowds, with fewer than 30,000 spectators turning up at Twickenham for last year's edition.
