Chris Oti was a rugby winger of prodigious pace who represented England on thirteen occasions between 1988 to 1991. He was a member of the England squad that appeared in the 1991 Rugby World Cup during which he made two appearances.

International career

Chris Oti had a brief career as a top flight Rugby Union player but nevertheless made a significant contribution to the history of rugby union. He was the first black player since James Peters eighty years before to represent England when he made his international debut against Scotland at Murrayfield in March 1988.

In the final game of the 1988 Championship Oti scored a hat trick of tries against Ireland.
As Oti scored his final try

Try

A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...

, a group from the Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

 school Douai

Douai School

Douai School was the public school that was run by the Douai Abbey Benedictine community at Woolhampton, England, until it closed in 1999.- History :...

 began singing 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is a historic African-American spiritual. The first recording was in 1909, by the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University....

', in honour of Oti. Other sections of the crowd joined in and the negro spiritual has since become an unofficial anthem of the national side.

Oti was capped five times the following season including against Romania when he scored four tries. He was selected for the British and Irish Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

 tour of Australia but persistent injuries meant that he was not considered for the test side.

In 1991 he was surprisingly picked ahead of Nigel Heslop

Nigel Heslop

Nigel Heslop was an international rugby union player, representing England on ten occasions between 1990-1992. Heslop played in two of the matches of the 1991 Rugby World Cup, including a very physical encounter with France. He later joined rugby league with Oldham Roughyeds.-References:...

 for the opening World Cup match against New Zealand and kept his place for the following game against Italy. This turned out to be his last international appearance as further injuries curtailed his career.

At club level Oti represented Cambridge University, Nottingham RFC and London Wasps

London Wasps

London Wasps is an English professional rugby union team. The men's first team, which forms London Wasps, was derived from Wasps Football Club who were formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London, at the turn of professionalism in 1999...

.

International Playing Statistics

• 1988 v Scotland (Murrayfield) W 9-6 (5 Nations)
• 1988 v Ireland (Twickenham) W 35-3 (5 Nations)
• 1989 v Scotland (Twickenham) D 12-12 (5 Nations)
• 1989 v Ireland (Dublin) W 16-3 (5 Nations)
• 1989 v France (Twickenham) W 11-0 (5 Nations)
• 1989 v Wales (Cardiff) L 12-9 (Five Nations)
• 1989 v Romania (Bucharest) W 58-3
• 1990 v Argentina (Buenos Aries) W 25-12
• 1990 v Argentina (Buenos Aries) L 15-13
• 1991 v Fiji (Suva) W 28-12
• 1991 v Australia (Sydney) L 40-15
• 1991 v New Zealand (Twickenham) L 18-12 (W.Cup)
• 1991 v Italy (Twickenham) W 36-6 (W.Cup)

Career Record: P13, W8, D1, L4
Test Points: 32
Tries: 8

(R) = Replacement

External links

• Wasps profile