Poetry in motion

Oxford also appears to have an odd effect on sportsmen. The Canadian team competing in the recent rugby world cup caused something of a stir by participating in a brawl on a scale more normally associated with the national sport of ice hockey when they played against South Africa. It subsequently emerged that captain Gareth Rees - sent off for his spirited contribution to the fracas - had done research on Canadian military leadership during World War One as part of his studies at Oxford, and had warmed up his team with stirring poetry on the battle of Vimy Ridge.