Brett Robinson, capped 16 times by Australia, said a memorable farewell to rugby in a largely forgettable Varsity match at Twickenham.

The 31-year-old Oxford University captain confirmed his retirement from rugby after leading the Dark Blues to their first hat-trick of victories over Cambridge for 30 years.

"It wasn't pretty," conceded Robinson after his side's 9-6 victory in the first try-less Varsity match for 20 years.

But he maintained his record of never being on the losing side at Twickenham in his fourth appearance there.

He started with Australia's 15-15 draw against England on the day Clive Woodward began his reign as national coach and also played for the Wallabies in their win over the Barbarians - both in 1997 - as well as leading Oxford home last year and this.

"Now I have a medical career to pursue," said Robinson who insisted he will not play in a major match again.

He finishes his DPhil in Orthopaedics in June and said: "Then I go back to Australia to start working."

He will take fond memories of Twickenham and of captaining Oxford with him. "It's been a great honour and thrill to lead Oxford out here today, and at the end of my career it was a great honour to play at Twickenham.

"It's one of the most unique rugby matches in the world, amateurs playing in front of a crowd of 50,000.

"You have quality world-class players like our two front-rowers (USA international Ray Lehner and Canada's Kevin Tkachuk) mixing it with 18 and 19-year-old undergraduates.

"You get a group together where you have players who are very good and players who are very average and it's a great thrill to see young guys work really hard and put it together for an occasion like this."

The mixture-ridden match was not so enthralling for the crowd but Robinson added: "We were almost afraid of trying things. We were dropping balls. We were too nervous, it seemed, but our defence was brilliant."

Only three points have separated the two teams in each of Oxford's last three victories and their coach Steve Hill said: "That shows you how even the two squads have been.

"The game plan was the most ambitious we have come to Twickenham with but pressure takes its toll on players.

"We were ambitious in what we wanted to do but it just didn't come off on the day."

But he added: "Three years ago we were looking at a record number of defeats against Cambridge after losing five times and we've turned that round. Thirty years is a long time not to have won three games in a row."

Cambridge coach Tony Rodgers, who played on the losing Light Blues side in two of the three years the last time Oxford had a hat-trick of wins, said: "I'm very disappointed.

"We had enough ball in the second half to have snatched a victory but made too many mistakes. It was a very hectic and frenetic match.

"We were under pressure in the first half, particularly in the forwards, but came back well towards the end of both halves.

"It was a game with a lot of mistakes by both sides but that is the nature of Varsity matches."

Rodgers added: "We have lost three in a row by three points each time. It hurts very much. These guys have spent 12 weeks building up to one game. It's back to the drawing board to try and do better next time."