THE fringes may be flourishing, but Oxfordshire rugby is rotten in the middle.

Henley are poised to win Jewson 1, the equivalent of the English third division, and Banbury are in contention for promotion to the national leagues.

But in Oxford - the stronghold of the game in the county as recently as ten years ago - the situation is dire.

Oxford RFC, who, not so long ago, were playing Bath in the then John Player Cup, dropped down into the Southern Counties North Division at the end of last season.

It was supposed to be the briefest of stays - a short, sharp shock.

The humiliation of playing against previously inferior rivals such as Chipping Norton, Wallingford and Bicester on a regular basis was expected to have a galvanising effect on the club.

Instead, Oxford have sunk deeper into the mire.

Two sides will, if the Rugby Football Union do not tamper with the current playing structure, tumble into the relatively murky depths of the Bucks and Oxon League at the end of this campaign.

Pennanians, from Slough, will certainly be one of them. Oxford, two spots off the bottom, and their city neighbours Harlequins, one place below them, are in serious danger of joining them.

Years of perceived arrogance and poaching of players mean that there will be little sympathy for Oxford. Their plight will have plenty of people sniggering into their pints at rugby clubhouses around the county.

But for the good of the game in Oxfordshire, there must, between Banbury in the north and Henley in the south, be a top side either playing in the national leagues or hovering just below them. Chinnor, in South West Division 2 East, are currently the highest placed club in the county behind the big two.

However, the Thame-based club would seem to have reached their limit. Their success has been down to a particularly oustanding crop of players, and while the local school - Lord Williams's - will continue to provide them with talent, Chinnor do not look to have the infrastructure to progress further.

Nor, in fact, do any clubs outside of the city.

One Oxford side is the answer. It is time for Oxford Harlequins and Oxford to merge to create a club with the facilities, the commitment to junior rugby and the kudos to exploit a catchment area that is easily big enough to support a top side.

Harlequins are themselves the product of the recent merger between Old Boys and Marathon.

It is a coming together which, some would argue, has not worked as well as had been hoped. But Quins should not be put off repeating it.

Indeed, this week's news that their application for £2.1m of Lottery funding for a new ground has been rejected, might convince Harlequins that the time is right to try again.

Harlequins must now seek to fund the relocation themselves - something they believe is possible, albeit potentially painstaking.

But it would surely be easier if Harlequins were the only club in the city and therefore the focus of its rugby community.

Oxford University beat Oxford 69-0 at the Southern Bypass on Tuesday night, Nick Booth scoing 34 points for the Dark Blues.

It was a record score for the traditional Town v Gown fixture.

Story date: Thursday 11 February

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