Pocklington rugby player's feet too big for his boots

Oliver is hoping someone will be able to help source size 16 boots for him

A 6ft 7in, rugby-mad teenager with size 16 feet fears he may have to quit his beloved sport after literally becoming too big for his boots.

Two-metre tall Oliver, 17, from Pocklington, East Yorkshire, outgrew his studs and has been unable to find a larger pair.

All major boot manufacturers have told his family they stop at a size 15.

Oliver's mum Jo has launched a public appeal in a bid to keep her son playing the sport he loves.

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She said the family's desperate search began when Oliver could no longer squeeze into his old footwear.

"His previously size 15 feet are now 16 and unfortunately no manufacturer makes size 16 boots," she said.

"The big companies, we've literally approached everyone, and they've all said they stop at a 15."

Off the pitch, Jo said, Oliver has managed to find baseball boot-style trainers that fit him, but they have not had the same luck with rugby.

She said professional clubs were able to rely on sponsors to produce custom-made footwear - an option unavailable to the family.

For Oliver, Rugby Union was "the one thing that's been solid through Covid," Jo said.

"He just lives and breathes it.

"It's his thing and to take it away from him at this stage would be devastating.

"Something that seemed a bit of a joke at the beginning doesn't feel like much of a joke now".

Oliver is not the first big-footed amateur to struggle with his boots.

In 2015, Carl Griffiths, from Wales, was given a pair of size 21 boots by national captain Sam Warburton after a public appeal.

And two years ago, 14-year-old Hamish Bell, from Exeter, found himself locked in a similar search for size 16s.

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