Former Navy player and referee makes national news as part of a remarkable reunion.
Peter Cunningham is one of life’s perfect gentlemen who never ceases to surprise me. His organisation of the referees annual dinner became legendary where he invariably assembled an evening that was a rich mix of rugby folk – old and new – from across the country. The mood was convivial. And the story telling between long lost friends went on deep in to the night and indeed the following morning. I had probably known him for nearly ten years (as a referee) before I found out that he was twice capped for the Royal Navy in 1967. A year when the Navy beat the RAF but lost to the Army. [Plus ça change (plus c’est la même chose)].
I should therefore not have been surprised to hear that he had been part of one of the most celebrated reunions of recent times, reported in most of the national press (Telegraph article here) and also covered by Meridien. Apparently the odds of the 1962 Portsmouth Grammar School Rugby XV all still being ‘upright’ was over 250,000 – 1 and so their get together on the last Saturday in September must have been a very special occasion. Melbourne and Arizona were two of the far flung destinations that former players had come from to re-enact their team photo of 1962.
The TV news report is available by clicking here.
Finally, and to round of the day, the Class of 62 stood on the touchline to watch the Class of 2012 win convincingly against local rivals Churchers School. Former team captain, Cdre Ken Bailey, hopes that the next reunion will be in ten years time – hopefully they will remain an astonishing group of 16.
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