We were delighted to have Nils Flaatten, Chairman of the Paul Roos Old Boys Union visit us to talk about rugby, wine and the long-standing connection between the schools.  He has close family that are all ODs.  They are Peter Penny (1952O) and two older cousins, Gareth (1980F) and Nick (1978F) Penny.  He spoke about the many parallels between the two schools over the years.  These are on many levels; academically, in sport, even the involvement in the Rhodes Scholarships.

Nils was in matric in 1987 and has fond memories of sports events at Bishops.  In particular he remembers Paul Dobson and Basil Bey and the fear they evoked in the hearts and minds of the Paul Roos boys.  They became part of the locker room folklore and stories were spread about their mystical auras and how they possessed some kind of rugby voodo!

Nils made a remark that certainly is true about schools and how important healthy rivalry is:

Great schools need to have great rivals to play against and in the eyes of Paul Roos Bishops is counted amongst these.

Next June we have another epic clash on the sports fields (rugby and hockey) and we are planning a joint ODU and Paul Roos Old Boys pre-game event.  This is likely to include a blind wine-tasting contest and rugby panel discussion.  This would be a friendly and sociable evening.

We look forward to more visits and shared events in the future.