On Sunday, March 4 at Bromsgrove RFC, Worcester Warriors hosted an action packed Under 12 grassroots festival, the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup.
The festival took place in some extremely wet and muddy conditions, which were not suited to the free-flowing and running rugby that many of the teams would have preferred. As a result, a number of the matches were hard-fought battles, with teams being forced to adapt to the conditions.
The keenly contested series of matches resulted in a tight Under 12 final, where Worcester RFC were crowned the winners, scoring three tries and conceding none, against a strong outfit from Lichfield RFC. Participating players at the festival also had the opportunity to meet Worcester Warriors player Matt Mullan who took time out of his schedule to watch the young teams as well as offer some coaching tips between games. As well as winning the festival, the young players have also won places in the prestigious Land Rover Parade of Champions where they will be presented to a sell out crowd at Twickenham during the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final next May.
Matt Mullan commented on the importance of grassroots rugby: “Every player starts their career somewhere and for most it is at festivals like this. The Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup has been a fantastic event, and it’s great to see it happening just down the road from where I went to school. Hopefully we will see some of these young local players turning out for Worcester Warriors in the future.”
The Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup attracts the finest Under 12 and Under 11 teams from the various regions, and as a result, it has continued to build in prestige from its inception, with participation at an all time high. The benefit and enjoyment that the youngsters are clearly deriving from the festivals gives great satisfaction to Land Rover, who had hoped for exactly this when establishing the first ever festivals to be officiated by their long-standing partners Premiership Rugby.
Commenting on the support of the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup, Laura Schwab, Marketing Director of Land Rover UK, said: “We are thrilled that the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup is proving to be such a success and continues to build in momentum and profile for what is now its fourth year. It is a significant initiative which provides a unique opportunity for young players to channel their enthusiasm for the sport and to play in a national tournament. Land Rover’s commitment to rugby now covers all levels of the game, from Rugby World Cup 2011, to supporting the elite of the England Rugby team, as well as the young players of the future, and this is something that we are extremely proud of.”
For more information on the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup please visit: www.premiershiprugby.com/landrovercup