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St Edward’s:
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Chapter 7 / Sport and Outdoors
changed. Kenneth Grahame, author of
The Wind in the
Willows
, was a member of the School XV in 1874 and was the
first of numerous famous OSE to play for the School. These
include Sir Douglas Bader, who was a formidable sportsman,
tenacious and determined. Ben Ryan coached the XV from
1988 to 2003 in a very successful period for the School. Ben is,
at the time of writing, the England 7s coach, and his creative
and maverick style is very much a hallmark of the England 7s
team, as it was of the St Edward’s XV during his tenure.
Although the XV currently play in royal blue ‘peacock’
shirts, in 1875 the XV adopted red and blue hooped shirts
and had caps with tassels to match! It wasn’t until the 1940
season that the XV adopted the royal blue shirts that are now
so synonymous with the St Edward’s XV. In the early years of
the Rugby Club it mostly played against Oxford colleges. These
were often very hard, uneven contests against much larger
players. Rugby was essentially quite localised. Initially it meant
that different forms of the game were played by different
clubs and schools. It was not until the formation of the Rugby
Football Union on 26 January 1871 that the national governing
body produced a set of rules and regulations to govern the
game, although it did take some time for these rules to find
their way to all the rugby-playing schools in the country.
The 1872 School XV played three matches that we know
of and won them all. The 1875 School XV fared equally well.
In 1960 the XV recorded ten wins and one draw and in that
season the 2nd XV were unbeaten, thus being the only time
in the School’s history that the 1st XV and 2nd XV have both
gone unbeaten. In 1975 the XV won all their nine games
with wins over the following sides: Old Dragons, Bedford,
Marlborough College, Abingdon, Harrow, Wellington College,
Oundle, Radley and Pangbourne. This side, captained by
R.A. Wilson, was the last unbeaten team, but we hope there
will soon be another. The 1996 XV (captain N. Obolensky)
and 1997 XV (captain J.F.A. Lawrence) both partly coached
by J. McPartlin, won the most matches ever in a season, both
winning 16 of the 19 matches played (some on tour). The 1996
XV scored the most points ever in a season, 630, and the 1980
XV (captain N.A. Friend) played the most matches in a season,
20, of which they won 15 and drew one.
The XV have had a number of very knowledgeable and
talented coaches. Joe McPartlin was undoubtedly a key coach
RUGBY
The St Edward’s Rugby Club has provided the pupils of the
School with an opportunity to train and play rugby against
some of the best schools, Oxford colleges, an array of Old
Boys XVs, Invitation XVs (which often included Internationals
and Blues) and local adult clubs.
The first game was in 1872 against Cowley College, a
military school, and was won by one goal and one touchdown
to nothing. 1874 was the first recorded game against another
peer school, and that was also a game we won by one goal
to one touchdown. In those days the scoring of a try afforded
you the opportunity to ‘try’ for a goal. The process of kicking
the goal was more significant than the try – how times have
Top:Earlyseasonrugbymatchbetweenthe
School and theMartyrs on the Lower Fields
in1982.PeterMallalieu,theHousemasterof
Apsley (1981–92), is the referee standing at
the end of the line out.
Above: A St Edward’s player dives to secure
the ball vs Wellington College, 1957.
Left: The 1932 Rugby XV in action.
Below: The 1988 Rugby XV – A. Conner and
P. Rawson.