Oakham School and Rugby (sport qu)

[Midlandsm]

A question re Oakham School. I am looking for my son who is particularly drawn to the school due in part to its rugby reputation.

They've recently won the schools cup but I wondered what percentage of the team is talent which has come through the school and what percentage of the team is perhaps sponsored by Tigers or join on a scholarship specifically for 6th form to win the cup?

Having looked at their results for the year they don't look particularly strong across the school but then in the sixth form they look to be unbeatable?

Thanks

I think the team which won the school's championship yesterday were very successful as an U15 group.
Obviously some players will be picked up by Tigers, largely because Ian Smith has connections, but they will be boys who have shown promise at school, not placed in the school by Tigers.

Thanks for your reply - that has put my mind at ease!

They have lots of academy players there and actively recruit them for sixth form. All the schools competing for trophies do this. Whilst some join at sixth form, a few also recruit at u15 and u16 to beat the daily Mail trophy rules which limit how many in the team that joined at sixth form. Other trophies don’t have this rule .
your best guide as to how many recruits is to look at match results for u14 to u16 and also at b team level. If the A ‘a win everything but b’s lose then you can guess that the A have plenty of rugby specialist recruits (scholars) and there is no depth to the year group.

oakham are known for a rugby focus and will recruit academy players as they go up the years groups to ensure they can compete for the trophies. This tends to draw in some rugby focussed children at 13+ - but if these natural recruits don’t develop well enough then academy players are recruited at sixth form and “originals” will be dropped to the B teams. They do the same for other sports too. They’ve important some Germany internationals into their 1st hockey team too. Bonefish pupils are just the support act for the genuine sports stars that are parachuted in.

oakham have L6 players who have been recruited into Oakham having previously been recruited by other major public schools beforehand. It can be brutal and competitive if schools are going to maintain their trophy cabinet! Oakham do actively persue rugby recruitment. You can see their u16A team were pretty poor last year yet that year group are now available for 1st selection (sixth form) and clearly did not feature as Oakham 1st team this year were immensely successful. This means heavy recruitment.

I think schools that recruit or put out teams which are majority academy should actually not play schools that don’t follow this process as it makes matches one sided and dangerous against schools fielding regular schoolboy teams.

Certainly by sixth form , if your child is not academy level they can expect to be dropped to the second team in favour of boys blessed by the muscle/height gods! If you choose a school that wins trophies, then unless your child is going to be academy standard at with form then they won’t ever make the 1st team or certainly won’t star in the 1st team …

Depends if you want your child to go to a school that wins trophies or whether they want to play 1st team themselves. Depending on your child’s ultimate size and ability, the two may not be compatible.

Sports scholarships are widely used to
boost sporting prowess @Midlandsm

At my DDs school they gave tennis scholarships. They win national tennis tournaments regularly. It’s very common which is why rugby and cricket international players are often privately educated. Footballers are not so sought after!

Rugby players in the first teams at these schools are seriously hench! They are also treated as Gods. I’m never convinced girls get the same opportunities either. Would I choose Oakham over Rugby? No.

You seem to know a lot about a school you claim that 'you have friends who board there', but you are not wholly accurate in what you say.
If talent is 'bought in' as you suggest, why is it 20 years since the rugby cup was won? (Please don't bother answering that btw).
Stop hiding behind anonymity to try and undermine the reputation of a really good school. It won't suit everyone, but those of us who have chosen it, love it and don't recognise your mantra.
My dc played sport all 8 years they were there and best thing about the coaching, is that their sport has been continued beyond school. Not at an academy, not in a top team, but because they understand the wellbeing, health and social benefits. That's what good education is.

My response was never about the school as a whole (which I’ve said is a happy and lovely school from all I have witnessed) - the OP was specifically asking if Oakham, who have won the National cup this week (as well as being Rosslyn finalists last year plus numerous excellent first team rugby performances) are a rugby team populated by children who arrived at the school aged 13 or have a lot of 6th form specialist rugby recruits?
it’s not a dirty secret. Everyone at all the schools on the match circuit knows which schools recruit from academies and which don’t. Stowe is another school which perform spectacularly averagely from u14 to u16 and then at first team level, the rugby performance is elevated to national/academy standards. It’s not that these schools are admitting cohorts of 13 year old boys that miraculously all become 16 stone academy beefcakes at 17 years old. Everyone knows that these first teams are heavily bolstered by sixth form rugby recruitment . Lots and lots of schools do it.
parents choosing schools should be aware that if they choose a school like this and their own child is not academy material by 6th form then they will never get above 2nd team and won’t ever get to go to national cup games or Rosslyn park. If your children does want a stab at playing these games then choose schools that do not have a history of making finals or semi finals in these events instead.

Oakham School mum here and I know some of the boys who were in the winning team. I’ll give you an example of one of them, but I will keep it vague as he is not my son. He went through the whole school and is a lovely lovely young man. I wouldn’t say that the A Team are picked to deliberately win the National Trophies but they are definitely picked and trained as the Creme de La Creme.

As with any other discipline, it all depends on the cohort. Last year the school were lucky to have a team that gelled together and trained hard. Apart from fitness, you could see during the match (the final) that it was the Oakham strength, discipline, fitness, teamwork and team mentality that won them the trophy.

As with any other school, the rugby team players are expected to play at county level so the boys are not been “bought in” just because they play for Leicester Tigers. My DS is younger and has friends in the up and coming squad. They train hard, play a lot of sport but also have time for other activities as well. And yes, they play for Tigers but are not “sponsored” whatever that means.

For the record, my son hates rugby but there are a couple of other sports he enjoys.

They’re normal kids.