OKEHAMPTON RFC president Maxwell Turner held his President's Day event on Saturday with an extravaganza of rugby in prospect.

The teams taking part came from right across South and South West England and they all played their part in the day's entertainment. The weather threatened to rain on the proceedings but did not dampen the enthusiasm of the watching crowd or the players.

First on were the Okehampton U14 team and their counterparts from Salisbury RFC in Wiltshire. The Salisbury side are the current county champions at their age group and are on tour in Devon and provided a strong challenge for the Okehampton boys and ran out 36-31 winners of a tight game.

The Oke U14s showed that they can play with the best at their age level in a great display of open rugby.

After lunch the Okehampton Colts took on a Devon U17s team. The Okehampton team had had a tough season but the lads have done the club proud with their efforts, only just missing out on a Devon Colts league final place.

The well organised Devon team provided strong opposition for the Okehampton boys and won 17-10 in a strongly contested game throughout by two committed sides.

The final game was between the President's XV and an Okehampton XV. The President's team was made up of players invited from other clubs within Devon, some of whom were Okehampton players who have moved up a level. Once again the teams provided great entertainment for the watching crowd. The President's players jelled into a strong and cohesive unit and ran out 39-7 winners.

The games were all played with a good spirit and the teams and supporters all entered into the spirit of the day. The quality of rugby is a great testament to junior rugby and the team coaches who do such a great job with them. That the Colts players have all come through the Junior setup and also many of the players in the senior game were also the product of the Okehampton Juniors is a source of pride and satisfaction in the club.

The day ended with a dinner for the players, members and guests, including officials from Devon RFU, and rounded off a thoroughly enjoyable day.

President Maxwell Turner was pleased with the day's events and thanked all those who had helped make the day such a success, including the Salisbury and Redruth clubs and Devon U17s as well as the invitation players in his XV. Without their contributions the day could not have happened and the club is grateful to them.