RAY Tapper graced Oxfordshire rugby fields longer than most.

The talented fly half turned out twice as a player at the grand age of 47 – and as coach, he did not mince his words when players fell short of his high standards.

He showed promise from an early age and won a place in the England Schoolboys’ team against France at Twickenham in 1958.

He went on to make six more appearances at Twickenham, in seven-a-side tournaments, mainly with his first club, Wasps. He played nearly 600 games for Oxford RFC, captaining his club as well as Oxfordshire.

Success continued when he left the Southern Bypass ground in 1981 to join Oxford Old Boys.

In his first season, he led the Old Boys’ team to the finals of the Middlesex Sevens at Twickenham, the first Oxford club to do so.

He later presented a plaque to the club to commemorate the achievement.

He returned to Oxford RFC as coach in 1989, but his playing days were not yet over.

A month before his 48th birthday, he included himself in the Oxford RFC team when the regular fly half was unavailable just before Christmas 1989.

Earlier that season, he had also come to the rescue of Oxfordshire, which he also coached.

When a player was injured and no substitute was available in a Toshiba County Championship match, Ray turned out for the second half, making him one of the oldest to play at this level.

He proved to be an outspoken coach – early in 1990, he described the commitment of most of Oxford RFC’s senior players as “almost totally abysmal”.

He wrote in the club magazine, Oxygen: “With few exceptions, the senior players only play and train when it suits them. The same old excuses that I have been hearing for nearly 30 years are paraded and accepted – they cut little ice with me.

“The commitment from the senior players has been almost totally abysmal when they should be setting standards for the others to follow.”

Oxford had won just one of their previous seven games, were facing relegation from the South West Division I and were in danger of losing their position as Oxfordshire’s leading club to Banbury and Henley.

Later, Ray made no apologies for his attack. He told the Oxford Mail: “If I have upset any player with these comments, my efforts won’t have been in vain.”

More memories of Oxfordshire rugby stars soon.