A team of Old Rydeians, parents and friends departed to participate in the 30th anniversary of the prestigious Flanders Open Rugby 10s Tournament in Dendermonde, Belgium earlier this month. Apart from the hosts, the Old Rydeians – a group of former of Ryde School alumni- are the only team to have played in every tournament. On Saturday the ORA played 3 matches drawing 5-5 with Dendermonde before beating previous winners Senlis 25~10 on the main pitch in front of a huge crowd. Unfortunately, the final match was lost 5-30 to Migso XV from France meaning the team finished 2nd in their group. In the evening there was a reception for all the teams with John Mitchell presented with a print for having been at all previous tournaments. There was a Fairy Tale-themed fancy dress party for evening entertainment. On Sunday, the team played 2 more matches to determine their overall position in the Kris Vandamme Cup. Kris was a great friend of Ryde School, and was instrumental in organising trips to Dendermonde for years and securing the team’s invitation to the Flanders Open. The first resulted in a 40-10 victory over Octupus Uden followed by a 25 -5 victory over Lokeren. This meant the Old Rydeians finished in a highly respectable 15th out of 41 teams. Very impressive for a scratch team! There were 118 teams from 17 different countries participating in the various men’s, women’s and mixer events. Every team received a trophy presented by the Belgian Prime Minister. 
An Old Rydeians spokesperson has said:
“A great weekend was enjoyed by all with most tries being scored by Old Rydeians Jacko Davis, Jevon Dry and Cameron Mitchell. “It was great to see them play alongside their fathers! A fantastic tournament as always.”
