More than six years stretch between Andy Saull’s last Twickenham appearance in September 2011 and the 136th men’s Varsity Match this afternoon. Then, he was a reigning Premiership champion with Saracens and a dynamic candidate to invigorate England’s back row.

Now, following spells with Newcastle Falcons and Yorkshire Carnegie after leaving Allianz Park, the openside flanker has undertaken a masters in sustainable urban development at Oxford to supplement his first-class degree in financial economics. Research projects and internships have shimmied up his priority list as a new life in real estate beckons.

Saull hopes to keep playing in some capacity for as long as possible, with junior club Woodford if necessary. Even if the “glory days” - he represented Saracens 121 times at the start of their resurgence, shone for England Saxons and might have surged into Test contention without untimely injuries - seem distant, there is no resentment.

“The way the game transitioned, a small, fetcher openside was no longer the flavour of the month,” Saull says. “The bigger, more defensively-destructive player came in. That was never my strength.

“I would never point the finger towards external factors - favouritism, injury - unless I felt I’d done everything I could. When I look in the mirror and point the finger at myself, I can say, ‘you know what, I probably wasn’t as professional as I could have been’.