Oundle pupils go on England South African Rugby Tour

Published on isbi School News dated Tuesday 3rd of September 2013

Two Oundle School pupils Josh Peters (17) and Sam Olver (18) have been selected to tour with the England Rugby team over the summer.

Departing on 5 August, the boys will be heading to South Africa where they will play matches against Wales, Ireland, France and South Africa.

Upper Sixth former, Sam commented, 'I'm really excited about the opportunity of playing against the South Africans in their own country. I toured there last year and we unfortunately lost to them so I'm looking forward to learning from our mistakes last year and putting it right this year!'

Sam made his full England U18 rugby debut against France at Fylde in February 2012. He started playing rugby at the age of four for Stamford Rugby Club and then from the age of nine he moved to Stamford Junior School where we had an unbeaten season. He was selected for Northampton EPDG (Elite Player Development Group) when he was twelve. Sam also plays fly half for Oundle School's 1st team.

Sam, who has recently signed a contract with the Saints to play rugby professionally added, 'My dream since I started playing rugby at the age of 4 is coming true. Now it's about doing all I can to be the best player I can and just keeping my head down and getting on with the training. The next year is an exciting period of time and I owe a lot of it to my Dad for all the endless hours of driving round the country he does for me.'

Sam's father, John is a former England rugby union hooker who played for England, Northampton Saints and Harlequins. John won his first international cap against Argentina in 1990 and went on to gain 4 full caps for England. John is now Head of Rugby at Oundle School where he is assisted by another member of the 1991 World Cup squad, Simon Hodgkinson.
Josh has played for England U17s and U18s this season earning his first cap against Scotland in March. He grew up in Spain and started playing for Spain and Marbella RFC at the age of 8. He recently travelled to Grenoble with the England U18s team as European Champions, beating France in the final on French soil.
Lower Sixth former, Josh commented, 'My journey so far has been quite remarkable and I would like to thank the coaching staff at Oundle School and Northampton Saints. I am honoured to be going on this prestigious tour and I am lucky as I may have the opportunity to go a second time next year.'
Old Oundelian, Tim Swinson has also been selected for the full Scotland rugby tour of South Africa this summer.