Matt Cooke who played all his mini and Junior rugby at Letchworth before winning a scholarship to rugby mad school Haileybury, will start for Oxford University against arch rivals Cambridge in the Senior Varsity match next Saturday at the Saracens StoneX ground.
Proud parents Steve and Georgina will be in attendance as guests of the Oxford Dean, along with Letchworth chairman Chris Lunnon, in what is to all intents and purposes a first for North Herts leading club. President Brian Burke said "I have searched the records back to 1924, when the club was founded, and can find no trace of any first team player who represented either university in this prestigious fixture. It is not that surprising as the Letchworth area does not have any prestigious public schools nearby!!".
From Haileybury, Matt went to Exeter University where he partnered Welsh captain Dafydd Jenkins in the second row and is now doing a post-grad course in History at Lady Margaret Hall. He has been in impressive form in the boiler house for the dark blues all season and has already attracted interest from several premiership clubs.
Father Steve who played at Legends Lane for over ten years in the 80s and now teaches science and rugby at Hitchin boys school said "At this stage Matt will keep his options open as to his future career, but as you can imagine all his focus will be on next week's game against the old enemy in what is the biggest challenge for all Oxbridge students".
Letchworth will also have an interest on the Cambridge side at the varsity match as Ikechi Mere, who played several games for the club before leaving for the the light blues in September, will be playing on the wing on Saturday. An unbiased president said "May the best team win as long as they wear blue!".
Brian Burke concluded "We have our own top of the table clash with Sudbury next week but one eye will certainly be trained on the Varsity match which will be streamed in the club house, we are all extremely proud of Matt and wish him all the best for next week's game".
