Warriors’ work in the rugby community continued in style last weekend when the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup came to Sixways.
Now in its 12th year, the exciting under-11 and under-12 grassroots developmental festival is a successful series of nationwide events that shows no signs of slowing down, with Warriors the latest to play host.
More than 82,000 children have already taking part to date and the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup continues to grow, providing developmental experience for young players to excel in a professionally run environment.
With two spots at the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final on Saturday June 20 up for grabs, more than 40 teams descended on Sixways looking to bag a trip to the world famous Twickenham Stadium.
The honour of representing the West Midlands on the hallowed turf this summer falls to Shrewsbury and Camp Hill after they were handed the Under-11 and Under-12 prize respectively.
Land Rover will once again reveal the Junior Land Rover Discovery of The Season award, which is intended to identify and reward one youngster who has showcased the values of rugby during the tournament.
Those participating in the Under-12 festival certainly put their hand up for the prize with the event a fantastic spectacle for those in attendance with the highly competitive fixtures providing a meaningful platform for youngsters to develop their rugby skills.
Camp Hill Under-12s showed great spirit right up until the final whistle to earn a trip to the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final, where they will meet a Land Rover rugby ambassador, and join in a Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup Parade at half-time.
They will be joined by Shrewsbury Under-11s who, along with all teams taking part, displayed fantastic resolve and demonstrated the core values of the game throughout: teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship.
Keeping a close eye on the action unfolding throughout the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup were Warriors players Caleb Montgomery, Gareth Simpson, Ed Fidow and Ropate Rinakama.
Fiji international prop Rinakama was delighted with what he saw. “It’s an amazing opportunity to come here and engage with the kids of the future because we need the kids to see there is a pathway and that’s why I love coming here,” he said.
“It’s about giving hope to kids. We live in a world where there are a lot of things which can distract them but this is an opportunity to distract them in a positive fashion and teach them the integral values of rugby. I would do this every day if I could.”