England trio come back to Barney (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

England trio come back to Barney

4:15pm Friday 15th March 2013 in Sport

AS the country looks to establish a long-lasting sporting legacy following the success of London 2012, Barnard Castle School called on its proud rugby reputation recently.

Ahead of the RBS Six Nations Championship, the school recently welcomed back to the fold three England rugby internationals, representing sporting excellence of the past, as well as the future.

Rob Andrew, Professional Rugby Director for the RFU, recently returned to address the biennial Sportsman’s Dinner, musing nostalgically that prior to Barnard Castle he hadn’t even seen a rugby ball, never mind had aspirations to represent his country at the highest level.

Andrew was at school atthe same time as the Underwood brothers; where he and Rory Underwood were subsequently on every team together, fromschoolthroughto the end of their England careers.

When sharing his all time best first XV, Andrew was keen to point out that amongst England rugby luminaries such as Dean Richards and Richard Hill,three were formerBarney boys.

Drawing onsuchafinepedigree, alumni of the School warmly welcomed fellow alumnus Rory Underwood to the school’s very first London dinner ahead of the Calcutta Cup last month. A night reflecting on the last 85 years of rugby at Barnard Castle School, there can be very few other schools who can boast 37 boys having gone on to achieve international honours.

Finally with one eye on the future, Barney welcomed Northampton Saints and England scrum half, Lee Dickson back toCounty Durham.Popular with his peers and a dab hand at squash in his youth, Dickson spoke of his time at school and his currentlife as a professional rugby player.

Current pupil and aspiring rugby ace Matthew Moss, 13 from Darlington said: “Lee Dickson is one of my rugby heroes because he can control the pack like no scrum half I have ever seen before. We talked a bit about rugby and how this schoolmadehiminto what he is today. I hope I can follow in his footsteps.”