What a day at the Showground.

Three Oakham teams took to the field on Saturday as the club came together for Fiji Day, remembering our much-loved teammate and friend Savenaca ‘Tu’ Koroibulileka and all three finished the afternoon with victories.

The Colts got proceedings underway at 1.30pm against Leicester Forest and set the tone for what was to follow, recording a victory before the two senior sides took centre stage.
With a big crowd around the Showground and Tu’s family and friends joining us for the occasion, the 1st XV and 2nd XV then kicked off at 3pm against Stamford College Old Boys.

1st XV show their resilience

Oakham started their first home league game of the season strongly, producing an excellent opening five minutes.
However, a growing penalty count soon began to put the Oaks under pressure. Stamford College Old Boys were able to work their way up the field and eventually took the lead.
Rather than allowing that spell to dictate the game, Oakham regrouped.

The penalty count came down and the home side began to find their rhythm, producing some brilliantly worked rugby and making excellent use of their support play.
Oakham were particularly dominant at the set piece. Strong work at both scrum and lineout provided the platform from which the backs could play, and the Oaks crossed for tries through Josh Skelham, Rhys Grieve, James Easson and James Agar.

From the tee, Lewis Crellin was faultless, converting all four tries and adding a penalty for a 100% kicking record.

The second half also demonstrated the resilience within this Oakham side. Despite having to manage periods with reduced numbers, including an unfortunate second yellow card which left Oakham with 14 men for the closing stages, the players maintained their composure and fought hard right through to the final whistle.
The result was a hard-earned 31-5 victory and a winning start to the 1st XV's home campaign.

2nd XV make it a clean sweep
Alongside them, the Oakham 2nd XV produced an emphatic performance of their own.
A superb display saw the 2s record an outstanding 53–0 victory over Stamford College Old Boys, completing a clean sweep of wins for Oakham's three sides on the day.

Three teams taking the field. Three Oakham victories.

But Saturday was about much more than results.
A day for Tu!
Fiji Day brought players, families, former players, friends and supporters together to remember Tu and celebrate his life.
Before the 1st XV game, the club came together for a minutes applause in his memory, with the occasion continuing after the rugby as everyone gathered for the Fijian Feast.
Ten years on, the strength of feeling for Tu within Oakham RFC remains clear.
As Head Coach Jamie Ray reflected afterwards:
“Huge shoutout to everyone that pulled on the shirt for the 1’s, 2’s and Colts. The second team enjoyed an outstanding 53-0 victory to round off great results for the club. A day well and truly showing our club and community spirit to remember one of our own.”

Three teams. Three wins. A packed day at the Showground and, most importantly, a club coming together for one of its own.

A very special Saturday at Oakham RFC. #42

See more pictures from Fiji Day here.