OBP round off the playing side of the 2025 season at Přeloučský Bizon

The last sporting event of the rugby season is traditionally the Přeloučský Bizon tournament, and this year too Old Boys Praha took part, on the first weekend of November. Despite several last-minute withdrawals because of various injuries, Old Boys Praha managed to put a side together and see the tournament through with honour.

Three teams took part in this year’s Přeloučský Bizon – Old Boys Praha, Old Boys Říčany and a combined team of Orli and Přelouč – and in lovely sunny weather they played each other in matches of 2×15 minutes. In the first match of the tournament OBP faced the Orli and Přelouč team, and the game followed the usual pattern of all our first matches: we tend to suffer from a lack of cohesion and from nerves that lead to handling errors, forward passes and needlessly giving the ball away. In the first half the opposition made the most of our mistakes and scored two tries. In the second half OBP’s play did improve: the reinforcements at half-back (Stříbro and Pešír) made a difference, and the line-outs went very well, with Tomáš Vémola doing great work, taking not only our own throws but very often the opposition’s too. OBP’s pressure then brought the try we had been after, finally touched down by Martin Lofler after a few phases inside the opposition 22. But we couldn’t add any more before the end, and the match finished 10:5 to the opposition.

In the second match OBP took on Říčany, who had played their match against Orli shortly before, showing a very fast, lively handling game, and they carried on in the same way against OBP. Compared with the previous match, though, OBP now played a much more active game among the forwards, putting together several phases with very good support from the back row. The ball also reached the wings more often, and at this stage the match was very even. Even though Říčany scored the first try, OBP stayed on the front foot, and the second half in particular was really good. Unfortunately, we couldn’t turn the pressure OBP built with excellent kicks for territory and line-outs that worked every time into an equalising try. Even so, it was a match that was a real pleasure to watch. With this 5:0 win Říčany also secured overall victory in the tournament. Congratulations!

The third half took place at the Přelouč club’s clubhouse. The prize-giving was preceded by a minute’s silence for Pavel Jágr and for the chairman of RC Přelouč, Bořek Trejbal, who recently left us for rugby heaven. The overall winners, OB Říčany, then received the traditional Bizon plaque, and the rugby anthem rounded things off. The third half was a chance to talk over all sorts of things from OBP’s social and sporting life, after which the players gradually headed off in small groups to the station restaurant to watch England – Australia, some with an optional stop at the Legionnaires’ train parked at Přelouč station. After 18:00 everyone duly boarded the train for Prague, where the compartment hosted a further cultural interlude of singing and dancing.

Finally, we would very much like to thank the organisers for a superbly run tournament, our opponents for their great rugby, and all the Old Boys Praha players for turning up and for a game that only got better as the tournament went on. A big thank-you also goes to the OBP members who, despite their injuries, came to Přelouč in large numbers and cheered loudly from the touchline. Thanks.