A SCHOOLS rugby stalwart has selected the sides he think were the best during a successful 50 years of the sport being played at the Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School.

John Escott, who is now the president of the Herefordshire Schools team, first introduced rugby at Bishops in 1964.

They had their first fixture list in the 1965-66 season and have had five players represent England Schools, as well as another five being picked by England 'A'.

A further two players have played for England North, 22 for the Midlands and six for the West Midlands.

Bishop's have also had 84 players picked by North Midlands – more than any other school in the region – with 450 pupils playing for Herefordshire.

Escott said it was hard to pick the best ever teams, but he believes the 1986/87 and 2005/06 sides particularly stand out.

"The 1986/87 team scored 1,003 points and only conceded 120 in 20 matches," said Escott.

"No team before or after scored as many points.

"And the 2005/06 side had an England player in Ollie Frost, and England 'A' player (Luke Yarranton) and a Midlands player (Richard Townsend) in its ranks, which again is unsurpassed."

Frost's England Schools team featured England international Ben Youngs, while George Bee, who was Bishop's School's fourth England cap, played alongside George Ford and Owen Farrell.

Other Bishop's School pupils who were picked by England Schools were Nick Stubbs, who was the first cap in 1974, Jacob Greasley and James Scott.

The 6'6" second row forward Scott played against Italy at Ystrad Mynych in Wales in April, while Stubbs played in the last Under-15 Schools international in Cardiff before the school leaving age went up to 16.

However, despite all the honours, Escott said it took about 10 years for Bishop's to establish themselves as a strong rugby playing school.

"Ross, Ledbury and Leominster were all strong, but the city schools were very strong," said Escott.

"Belmont Abbey were one of the greatest rugby playing schools in England and won the Rosslyn Park 7s in the 1980s, which was the largest tournament in the world.

"Then there was Hereford High School for Boys, who produced 12 county players in one season in the 1970s, and Hereford Cathedral School, one of the oldest rugby playing schools in England and who produced the first captain of Wakes.

"They were all formidable opponents and we took some hammerings in that first season.

"So, to toughen them up, I took them down to the mining valleys of Wales, so it was all a big learning curve.

"It took us about 10 years to establish ourselves as a strong rugby playing school, so by the mid-70s, we were producing half of the Herefordshire County XV players."

Escott retired in 1995 and was replaced by Steve Bradley, who continued the school's strong rugby tradition and became the new first XV coach.

Then, in 2009, Pete Archer, who was Bishop's first school captain in 1965, took over as coach and brought in Escott as his assistant.

The current first team coach is former pupil Gary Preece, who took over the reigns three years ago.

Bishop's will be celebrating their 50 year anniversary with a number of activities taking place in March.

A dinner will be held on Friday, march 19, with a day of rugby and a school invitation seven-a-side series happening on the Saturday and Sunday.

More information will be available at bhbs.hereford.sch.uk

Meanwhile, a special golden jubilee tie has been made to mark the occasion.

Email John Escott at john.escott@talktalk.net to find out more.