Kingham Hill School teacher captains winning Oxford Varsity Team

22 Jan 2016

Having been awarded a blue (1st team cap) in the Varsity Match at Twickenham last year, this year Mr Basil Strang captained the Oxford 2nd team – the Greyhounds. He has been training with them and the Blues throughout the term at Oxford and is eligible to play for the university as he is completing a part-time masters (MSc) in Learning and Teaching.

The match was held at the Oxford University ground (Iffley Road) between Oxford and Cambridge universities and is the seconds longest running fixture in rugby, dating back to 1872. Oxford romped home with a 50-5 victory.

Basil reflected on their win by saying “I tremendously enjoyed the experience.  Primarily, as an Oxford student, you can’t get much better than captaining a side that thrashes ‘the other place’.  Secondly it was great that the senior boys could come and watch.  It was a good game and demonstrated the sort of rugby they could get involved with in life beyond the school, particularly within a university set up. It was also fortunate that I played well; earning those extra respect points on the training pitch! My continued involvement in the game allows me to stay up to date with the latest coaching and gives me an insight into the game, which I can pass on during training sessions”.