Rudi Signed To London Irish

We are delighted to announce that Year 11 Pupil, Rudi O'Keefe has been selected for the London Irish Under 18s Gold Academy Pre-season Training Squad.

Rudi, who joined Shiplake in Year 9, was originally selected as one of 40 players from 300 boys to play for the Under 16s Academy. From those 40 players, Rudi was then one of 22 boys who went on to be chosen for the U18s Gold Academy Pre-season Training Squad. An amazing achievement!

Rudi started playing rugby at U11 level and has been in the London Irish programme since he was 12. He currently plays centre for the club and Shiplake but when he joins the U18s Pre-Season Squad at London Irish he will play in the front row.

Following a summer of training, a smaller Gold Academy Squad will be chosen from September onwards, which Rudi is hopeful for.

Rudi said: "The selection process this year has been very harsh and rigorous. At the start of the year I was one of around 300 players that wanted to get into into the Under 16s Official Academy Team. From these 300 players there was a combination of county, Developing Player Programme and Bronze Academy players.

"They held three trial days and from these they picked 40 players to put into the Under 16s Academy. After a few months of us all training together they needed to pick an Under 18s team out of the 40. I was fortunate to be one of 22 that got through and am now a member of the Gold Academy Pre-season Training Squad.

"I’m very excited to play fixtures at Shiplake from September as well as some huge matches for London Irish that unfortunately were cancelled last year, such as matches against Wasps, Saracens and Exeter.

"Rugby is something I love and is something I will always hopefully have a chance of playing. If I have an opportunity to play rugby for a career I’ll definitely take it, but it’s not something I’m putting everything on."

Following his GCSEs, Rudi is hoping to study psychology, sociology and art in the Sixth Form at Shiplake.

He continued: "Shiplake has been an absolutely amazing place for me and I’ve loved every minute of it. It has helped me with my art as well as my rugby and I’ve definitely achieved a lot more academically here than I ever have in the past."