Cambridge University broke Oxford University's recent stranglehold on the the MMC Trophy with a deserved 15-13 victory in the 121st Varsity match at Twickenham.

Simon Frost was the star of the show for the Light Blues grabbing a brace of tries in the first half.

It was Cambridge's first Varsity Match victory since 1998 and meant Oxford's bid to secure a fourth successive Twickenham triumph for the first time in 50 years fell flat, as they never fully recovered from the Light Blues' initial onslaught.

Dark Blues fly-half Matt Honeyben had a golden chance to tie the game late on, yet his conversion attempt of Canadian international prop Kevin Tkachuk's 72nd-minute try drifted wide.

Frost, a 24-year-old with appearances for Swansea and London Welsh under his belt, was the Cambridge hero.

He exposed Oxford's defensive deficiencies by touching down after nine and 16 minutes, and although the Dark Blues replied through wing Will Rubie's well-worked score, Cambridge never looked like relinquishing a 12-5 interval advantage.

Fly-half Owen Edwards' second-half penalty ensured that they lifted the MMC Trophy, denying Oxford's American lock Adam Russell an unprecedented fourth individual Varsity win in the process.

The Light Blues roared ahead, courtesy of Frost's double strike, and although Rubie showed his class by producing a quality solo score, Cambridge established a deserved interval advantage before just doing enough to hold on.

Oxford were unlucky not to go ahead on five minutes when Honeyben's opening penalty attempt hit the post.

Cambridge, who fielded 10 Varsity Match debutants in their starting XV, took time to settle, but stunned Oxford through their first meaningful attack.

The Oxford defence was horribly exposed, with Zimbabwe-born Frost touching down following an angled 30-metre run when Dark Blues defenders made no serious attempt to tackle him.

Edwards struck a superb touchline conversion, giving favourites Oxford a piercing wake-up call as the 2002 Varsity Match produced more entertainment in the opening 10 minutes than during its drab 9-6 entirety last season.

Worse followed for Oxford just seven minutes later, when they were again exposed out wide.

Cambridge wing Aki Abiola made ground from an unmarked position, and although Oxford defenders eventually got across to halt his progress, a well-executed inside pass gave Frost another score.

Edwards couldn't convert, but Oxford knew that they had to strike next, otherwise the Light Blues were in danger of disappearing over the horizon.

Their response was suitably efficient, with an opening try arriving just three minutes later.

Rubie, remembered for his dazzling breakaway score against world champions Australia last term when he outstripped Ben Tune on a race to the line, came up trumps when given a sniff of the line 25 metres out.

Neither Cambridge scrum-half Ben Dormer nor full-back Alistair Newmarch could halt him as he broke through their attempted tackles to touch down. Unfortunately for Oxford, a nervous Honeyben missed an easy conversion attempt.

Oxford gradually got back into the game, and Rubie almost collected Honeyben's pass with the Cambridge defence stretched.

It was a spirited comeback by Oxford after the Light Blues' blistering start, and as half-time approached, they had established a degree of territorial control.

Cambridge though, coped well in defence, and deservedly trooped off at half-time, seven points to the good.

Rubie should have matched Frost in the try-scoring stakes just two minutes after the restart, but a poor pass from full-back Tim Barlow denied him a simple run-in, and Cambridge escaped.

Oxford though, pressed ominously, and after Abiola panicked in defence to put his team under needless pressure, Cambridge conceded a penalty for not releasing possession, and Honeyben reduced the arrears to four points.

Cambridge needed to rediscover their spark of the opening quarter, but an unbelievable Edwards penalty miss - 20 metres out, straight in front of the posts - gave Oxford an unexpected reprieve.

Edwards though, kept his composure on 62 minutes, finding the target from similar range and giving Cambridge welcome breathing space as tension mounted.

Oxford laid siege to the Cambridge line after that, substitute wing Karrelle Dixon blissfully ignoring the unmarked Rubie outside him, but pressure told nine minutes from time when Tkachuk powered over.

Honeyben though, couldn't land the conversion, and Cambridge held out to release Oxford's recent vice-like grip on English rugby's most famous amateur rugby fixture.

Man of the Match: Duncan Blaikie (Cambridge)

Teams for the 121st Varsity Match:

Oxford: T Barlow (St Anne's); W Rubie (Brasenose), J Allen (University), A Willett (Merton), S Douglas (Merton); M Honeyben (Pembroke), D Taberner (Worcester); K Tkachuk (Kellogg), D Griffiths (St Edmund Hall), H Nwume
(University), A Russell (Magdalen), C Edwards (Balliol), F Gemmell (St Catherine's, capt), B Durham (Keble), D Lubens (St Anne's).

Replacements: D Hughes (Jesus), O Julyan (Keble), R Sugden (Greyfriars), R Woods (St Anne's), G Barr (St Cross), J Fennell (Pembroke), K Dixon (St Cross).

Cambridge: A Newmarch (St Edmund's); S Kingsbury (Corpus Christi), S Frost (Hughes Hall), J Wright (St Edmund's), A Abiola (St Catharine's); O Edwards (Hughes Hall), B Dormer (St Edmund's); R Bosch (Hughes Hall), C Collins (Fitzwilliam), J Reilly (Fitzwilliam), G Webster (St Edmund's), M Purdy (Fitzwilliam), O Scrimgeour(Fitzwilliam), D Blaikie (Hughes Hall, capt), S Eru (St Edmund's).

Replacements: P Jenkins (St John's), D McGrath (St Edmund's), G Forde (Hughes Hall), A Gladstone (St Edmund's), J Meredith (Wolfson), M Hocken (Hughes Hall),R Girvan (St Catharine's).

Referee: T Spreadbury

Touch judges: R Maybank, M Fox.

Attendance: 50,000