Representative Rugby Chair
Doug Bosley
Email: dougbosley@btinternet.com
Contact number: (M) 07775 508818 (H) 01235 833688
WHAT IS YOUR RUGBY BACKGROUND
I have been involved with rugby since 1981 when I met a guy called Mervyn Godby in a pub (I have often wondered where he is today) and he asked me to make the numbers up for his 3rd Team! I had played a bit at school so I gave it a try and that was the beginning of a very long association with my home club Harwell RFC. Firstly I played in the backs and then went on to play in the front row as Hooker. In a playing career that lasted almost 30 years I have had the privilege of being 1st team captain, twice, and 2nd team captain. I have also been Harwell Club Secretary for 21 years.
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE COUNTY
In around the year 2000 I was invited to become a member of the Oxfordshire RFU disciplinary committee, poacher turned gamekeeper! From this I went onto the County Committee, and after a couple of initial rolls, I shadowed the then Chair of Competitions, and I took over the position in 2006 and started to run the County Cup and Shield competitions, and then went on to become Chair of Representative Rugby for the Senior XV and U20s.
Running parallel with this I have served on the South West RFU Divisional Organising Committee and been a League Secretary for various leagues since 1998, at present I am league secretary for Southern Counties North. The South West DOC are responsible for organising the RFU leagues and its structures in the south west and covers leagues from Cornwall to Buckinghamshire.
WHAT ARE YOUR RUGBY HIGHLIGHTS
There have been quite a few, but I guess playing wise, being named Man of the Match in the County Shield final in 2002.
For County rugby there are three that stand out, being the Country President from 2010 to 2012, Receiving Life Membership of Oxfordshire RFU together with my wife Jenny, and as Chair of representative rugby, in 2017 taking the Oxfordshire Senior XV to Twickenham for the Bill Beaumont County Championship Final and being the winners. The first time an Oxfordshire team had won, and this would not have been achieved without the support I received from the players, coaches and backroom staff who helped make it possible.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE IN YOUR TIME ON THE BOARD
My heart as always been with the playing of the game, and to that end I want to be able to continue to allow and encourage the adult players in Oxfordshire to be able to play county rugby, both U20s and Senior XV. For them to experience the friendship and enjoyment it brings, and who knows, maybe experience another win at Twickenham.