College 1st XV prevails in a closely fought match

Youth and stamina prevailed December 10, 2009, when an OP Under-21 XV was defeated 22-17 by a strong College 1st XV which had previously lost only a couple of matches during its season. The game on Bowden, watched by most of the school and many teachers as well as a few OPs, hinged on some determined combined forward and back play by the College side towards the end of match. The age limit of the OP side is set by the RFU.

The OP team was organised by Jack Muggridge (05-08), a former captain of the College 1st XV. He reports that on the day he had 20 players to select from and was able to choose "probably the strongest team we could have picked...It was particularly good to see the fixture played in 2009 as the last two seasons it had been cancelled due to lack of interest and weather issues."

About 20 OPs currently make up the Under-21 OP rugby squad. They are:
2006 leavers - Will Hughes, Olly Johnson, Josh Reece; 2007 leavers - Olly Huson, Tom Altman, Simon Jewell, John Symons, Ben Lawton, Jeff Joseph; 2008 leavers - Sean Flynn, Tommy Alexander, James Groves, Dotun Awarni, Tola Awarni; Conor Brown, Tom Bishop, Sam Hewick, Jack Muggridge;       2009 leavers - James Paterson, Olly Walgren.

Any OPs who will be under 21 at the start of the next rugby season who would like to play for the OP XV in the annual Old Boys tournament in the summer of 2010 or versus the College in November/December 2010 should contact Jack Muggridge at jmuggers@yahoo.co.uk