Fantastic Start to the Rugby Season
The Winter Term always brings with it a fantastic atmosphere at School, not only because it welcomes a brand-new academic year, but also because much-loved sports such as rugby make their grand return.
Oakham Sport are celebrating success this season already, with a fantastic kick-off to the year seeing the 1st XV team win three challenging games.
Warming up for the season, their first friendly against Brooksby Melton College saw the 1st XV triumph 35-22. Continuing with their winning streak, they’ve gone on to win their first match in the Daily Mail Trophy (29-14) against Rugby School and were thrilled to beat Uppingham School 66-7 in Round 1 of the National Cup.
Director of Rugby at Oakham School, Andy Rice, said: “It’s great to be back playing matches and to have a real team spirit out on the pitch. We’re really proud of what the team have achieved already and were absolutely delighted with the result of the Uppingham game.”
“I’m looking forward to continuing our success throughout the season and seeing where this year takes us.”
In similar news, three of Oakham School’s recent alumni, who are all from the class of 2019, are also proving to be at the top of their game this season.
Old Oakhamian (OO) Jack van Poortvliet, who plays for Leicester Tigers, scored a try in his debut for England this summer against Australia and is the number one scrum-half at the moment. Jack has also been named in the England squad for the Autumn Internationals against Japan, Argentina, South Africa and New Zealand after making his debut in the Test series win in Australia.
Jack’s former teammate Harry Glynn, who plays for La Rochelle, scored two tries on the team’s recent debut in the French Top 14 against Perpignan. Second row Cameron Jordan represented Gloucester last weekend v Saracens in an exciting 41-39 Premiership game with Saracens winning with an Owen Farrell conversion in the last minute. This week former Durham University and England Students captain Fred Davies (‘17) makes his debut in the Premiership Cup v Bristol.
Another OO making headlines is Sam Costelow, who played at fly-half with Jack whilst at Oakham, and recently trained with the Welsh squad ahead of their South Africa tour this summer and was named Man of the Match in the Scarlets vs Ospreys 23-23 draw.
