Shuttleworth’s twin sister, Jenni, joined her in the back row as they both made it a hat-trick of wins at Twickenham and they were joined by two other Welsh players in the Light Blue pack in Cardiff-born prop Laura Bleehen and Bridgend-born Laura Nunez-Mulder.
Old Howellian Bleehen was playing in only her 10th game of rugby after switching codes in the summer. She had been the goalkeeper for the Cambridge Women’s team in the last three football Varsity Matches.
No 8 Leonard, winning his third Blue, had former international second rows James Horwill and Flip van der Merwe packing down in front of him, and saw Irish wing Fergus Jemphrey score two tries and Chris Bell pick up a third at the death.
“It was absolutely phenomenal. It was difficult conditions, but I think they made the game more exciting and it was a great result for us,” said Leonard.
“Oxford pushed us 100 per cent. Massive credit to them as with a lot of undergraduates they really fought their socks off and put us under pressure, particularly in the first half an hour or 40 minutes.
“They had three or four line breaks and we were scrambling really hard. The experience we had was massive. Flip (van der Merwe) and James (Horwill) were useful to have around to calm the boys down, but I have to give credit to the guys who were here last year and went through the difficulty of losing a lead.
“They learnt a lot from that and you could see today we were a lot more experienced and in general a better outfit. Playing at headquarters is always good fun and to have a great crowd behind us is always brilliant.”
Neither the Shuttleworths nor Bleehen played rugby at school in Wales, but made such rapid progress after taking up the sport they won Blues in their first terms. For Fiona and her team, it was a second victory over Oxford this season having already beaten them at home in the BUCS Premier South league.
Fiona is studying to become a vet, while Jenni is studying Medicine. “I’m so tired I can hardly speak,” admitted Fiona after picking up the Rhino trophy as the winning captain. “Every single one of us gave everything we had.
“We never thought the game had gone because we have such a strong belief in ourselves. We worked hard for that win and we were pretty dominant throughout.
“They shut us down well, but we handled the pressure – it was a huge battle and we never gave up. It was an incredible try from Coreen Grant two minutes from time and after that we just had to do what Wales do and that’s wait it out.
“It was intense, hair-raising and a great exhibition of women’s rugby. That’s a hat-trick for me and Jenni and I’ve got one more year to go. I hope to play after I leave because I love the sport. But being a vet is physically demanding and I can’t afford to get injuries to my hands.”
Famous for writing down instructions on the back of her hands, the Cambridge captain went onto the field with “Eyes of the thighs on her left hand and “Believe” on her right. She was true to both!
