Oxford are older, heavier and taller than Cambridge, but their coach Sean Bowden, involved in his 12th University Boat Race, is taking nothing for granted on Sunday (3.40pm).

The Dark Blues are the heaviest crew ever at 15st 9lb per man, while Cambridge themselves average 15st 1lb.

Even though two out of three Boat Races have been won by the heavier crew, Bowden is cautious.

He said: “The weight is not an issue for us and the crews are pretty evenly matched size-wise. It is a question of getting it right on the day”.

Colin Smith, the Oxford president, will be racing in his third Boat Race and is the lightest man in the Oxford crew at 13st 9lb, but he has got an Olympic silver medal to his credit.

”I expected us to be the heaviest crew”, he said. “Hopefully, we can turn that into going pretty fast as well.”

Cambridge’s new New Zealand coach, Chris Nilsson, in his first year there after coaching at Oxford ten years ago, seems unworried.

“The crew has a spirit and camaraderie second to none,” he said.

Oxford have four men over 16 stone, the heaviest being American Ben Harrison at 16st 10lb and the others include Croatian Ante Kusurin, Oxford’s stroke for the second time.

Cambridge have just two over 16-stoners, but they do have five old Blues to Oxford’s three and experience counts in Boat Races.

“That experience is a big plus and it rubs off on the new guys,” said Nilsson.

In world experience, Oxford excel with five Olympic performers in their crew, two of them Smith and Kiwi George Bridgewater, with medals to their credit.

Cambridge have no Olympians, but they have six Under 23 internationals to Oxford’s four.

Of the smaller weight issues, Cambridge will have to pull less weight over the fourand a quarter -mile Putney to Mortlake course as their cox Rebecca Dowbiggin, in her third record-breaking appearance, is 12lb lighter than her Oxford counterpart Colin Groshong.

So, who will win?

Well, the bookmakers made Oxford the 4-11 favourites after the weigh-in, the last to be masterminded by ITV before the BBC take over again in 2010.

The evidence? Well, in the build-up in private fixtures, Oxford beat Washington University with some ease over two rows in early March and subsequently they defeated Molesey, again with something to spare two weeks later.

Cambridge had a good race with Leander, but lost, and ended honours even in an unusual two-race fixture with the world’s top scullers last Wednesday before the scullers went on to win the Tideway Head last Saturday.

Well, for me, it is what I saw Oxford produce in their second row against Molesey, hitting the most powerful and sustainable rhythm that any coach could require that makes me opt for a Dark Blue win, of course with the usual caveats about weather conditions and winning the toss.

SUNDAY’S LINE-UPS.

Oxford: M Plotkowiak (bow), C Smith, A Hearne, B Harrison, S Hamburger, T Solesbury, G Bridge-water, A Kušurin (stroke), C Groshong (cox).

Cambridge: R Weitemeye (bow), H Pelly, R Mona-ghan, P Marsland, D McEachern, H Cubasch, T Ransley, S Stafford, R Dowbiggin (cox).