Oundelians represent East Midlands in Italy
Situated near Venice, Rovigo hosts an annual rugby tournament for teams across the world. In 2006 the sixteen teams came from Italy, France, Ireland, South Africa and England, represented this year by the East Midlands U17, including Oundelians Tom Arkell (StA) and Barnabas Purbrook (F).
Winning the opening game against Rovigo Academy 44-0, East Midlands went on to win 22-0 against Palma, topping the group and scoring the most tries out of all the teams on the first day.
The next day started with the quarter finals against Presentation College from Ireland. This game was won 7-0, and then on to a 12-0 victory over Benetton Treviso in the semi-finals.
The final game was East Midlands versus team from Rome. Despite a partisan home crowd, the game was won by East Midlands by two tries to none, with a score line of 12-12.
Both Oundelians played every minute of the competition: Tom Arkell was tournament top try scorer, and Barney Purbrook was given the honour of captaining the side when the main captain was substituted.
