Day the Ellas came to play in Sevenoaks

THE high-water mark for Sevenoaks rugby must surely be January 14, 1978 when they played the Australian Schools XV, possibly the greatest schoolboy squad the game has ever seen spearheaded by the three Ella brothers and containing ten or more future Wallabies plus Rugby League legend Wally Lewis.

The Scottish leg of the Aussies tour fell through and the tourists badly needed a final hit out before their muchanticipated final Test against England at Twickenham.

So it came to pass that Sevenoaks coach Mike Williams picked up the phone one morning and it was Ron Tennick, secretary of the RFU Schools Union with an unusual request. Sevenoaks had made a very good impression during their ground-breaking Aussie tour of 1976... could they put together a team to take on the all-conquering tourists?

The Aussies were trusting Williams not to pack a Past and Present XV with overage and oversized ringers.

The challenge was met in the spirit it was proffered. Five of that season’s First XV started and all of the replacements were current pupils while the majority of the recruited players were from their 1976 Aussie tour party just 16 months earlier. Most were first year university students by this stage.

Guy Durdant-Hollamby, scrum-half and skipper of the 1974 British Columbia tour party, had stopped playing rugby that season but was assured by Williams his leadership was needed. Paul Downton, alas,was missing away on cricket duties.

The game had been switched to the Knole Paddock, home ground of the Sevenoaks town club, to make it an occasion for the entire town and a crowd of nearly 3,000 attended.

The rugby went perfectly to script. Sevenoaks were highly competitive and even led narrowly at half time, but the Aussies kept playing their allaction running game and pulled away with late tries by Mark Ella and Chris Roche to win 14-6.

Nearly £500 was raised for charity with a collection, the banquet at the local golf club that night was judged the best on tour by the Aussies. Four days later they thrashed England 31-7. Sevenoaks Past and Present XV v Australia Schools: Nick Clinch; Paul Hewett, Mark Clinch, Paul Brett, Tim Lovell; Tom Hope, Guy DurdantHollamby (c); Chris Alcock, Martin Hapgood, Dick Johnson, Nick Walker, Bill Belither, Gus McGillivary, Larry Coleman, Andy McMaster.