Suddenly, Oakham find magic of the Cup

Brendan Gallagher continues his series looking at rugby’s great schools

- Brendan Gallagher

RUTLAND, England’s smallest county, might not boast a big senior rugby club – but in Oakham and Uppingham they boast two considerable rugby playing schools with, historically, nearby Leicester Tigers and Northampton being the biggest beneficiaries.

Both schools were founded by the same cleric in the same year – Archdeacon Robert Johnson in 1584 – and this week we are putting Oakham under the spotlight. Curiously, although sharing so much in common, the close neighbours didn’t contest a First XV fixture until 1964.

Oakham initially were worthy rather than formidable opponents but among their early notables were Sir Anthony Wharton, a star man in the the 1934 and 1935 teams, and Ron Jacob, who captained the side in 1945 and went on to play in England’s Grand Slam-winning side of 1957. Both were future RFU presidents.

One of the more remarkable figures from Oakham’s past was Brian Smith OBE, who in 1953, his final year at the school, achieved the unique achievement in the history of schools sport of captaining three sides – the Rugby XV, the Hockey XI and the Cricket XI – to unbeaten seasons.

The respective records were: Rugby (played 13, won 12, drawn 1), Hockey (played 5, won 5) and Cricket (played 15, won 9, drawn 6). It is not recorded how Smith ever found time to sit his exams. Smith subsequently played for Leicester Tigers and Leicestershire Club and Ground and served for ten years as chairman of Leicestershire CCC during which time they won two of their three County Championships.