Sussex has retained the cup for the third year running, after a close-fought battle against the University of Brighton on Sunday (13 March).

Brighton hosted this year’s event, which featured 40 sports teams from both universities competing in 14 sports, including American Football, Ultimate Frisbee and Basketball.

Over 1,000 students from Sussex and Brighton watched the teams go head to head, with most matches taking place at Brighton’s Falmer campus. Brighton took an early lead, winning opening matches in Lacrosse, Trampolining and Men’s Badminton. But Sussex fought back to even the score, getting points for convincing wins in Women’s Badminton, Tennis and a spectacular victory for the Women’s Rugby team, beating Brighton 22-0.

Sussex’s winning streak continued, with wins from Women’s Hockey, Men’s Volleyball and American Football team the Sussex Saxons all adding crucial points to the scoreboard. The Women’s Volleyball team sealed Sussex’s Varsity victory, with a 3-0 win in the final match of the day. 

James Scott, captain of the Men's Volleyball team and final year Mechanical Engineering undergraduate, praised the strong performances from Sussex across the board. James said: "Sussex showed their dominance in indoor and outdoor matches, with some great wins from some key games."

In addition to the landmark victory of winning the cup for the third year in a row, the Men’s Rugby team celebrated winning the fixture back from Brighton after a 40-0 defeat the previous year. The team secured a hard-won 14-12 result in one of the more nail-biting matches of the tournament.

More than 600 student sport players from both universities took part in this year’s Varsity. And the event will return to Sussex to host next year. Sarah Hall, Sports Development Manager at the Students’ Union, said:

“Varsity seems to get bigger and better every year, with more teams being added and more students taking an interest in it and watching.

“We are already planning for next year to make it even bigger and accessible to all Sussex students to either participate or watch.”

Sussex sports teams achieved the following results: 

• American Football: Sussex 12 v Brighton 8
• Badminton Men: Sussex 2 v Brighton 6
• Badminton Women: Sussex 6 v Brighton 2
• Basketball Men: Sussex 60 v Brighton 27 
• Basketball Women: Sussex 35 v Brighton 65
• Cricket: Sussex 94 v Brighton 92
• Football Men: Sussex 1 v Brighton 1
• Football Women: Sussex 1 v Brighton 6
• Hockey Men: Sussex 1 v Brighton 3
• Hockey Women: Sussex 2 v Brighton 1
• Lacrosse: Sussex 4 v Brighton 18
• Netball: Sussex 37 v Brighton 51
• Rugby Men: Sussex 14 v Brighton 12
• Rugby Women: Sussex 22 v Brighton 0
• Swimming: Sussex 72 v Brighton 147
• Tennis Men: Sussex 10 v Brighton 2
• Tennis Women: Sussex 12 v Brighton 0
• Trampolining Sussex (Lost) v Brighton (Won)
• Ultimate Frisbee: Sussex 9 v Brighton 10
• Volleyball Men: Sussex 3 v Brighton 1
• Volleyball Women: Sussex 3 v Brighton 0