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Saturday 3rd
September saw a group of TAG rugby players from the under8
age group from Aldermaston RFC participate in a large
tournament held in the shadow of National One side
NEC
Harlequins ground, The Stoop. Invited to the event by
Aldermaston’s Community Development Partners
London Irish,
the boys and girls from Aldermaston played several games at
the Stoop, enjoying success and tasting failure in the early
games, but thoroughly enjoyed the matches. They were playing
for a coveted opportunity to play in the finals at
Twickenham as part of the half time entertainment or the
‘Double Header’ matches to mark the start of the
Premiership, during which London Irish were to face Leeds
Tykes. London Irish even supplied their team mascot ‘Digger’
for the event to help the youngsters on their way.
Remarkable
performances were noted from all players, despite not
qualifying on points to move on to the finals at Twickenham.
But the day was not over for the youngsters as they learned
they had earned their place at Twickenham for their
demonstration of sportsmanship and good behaviour on the
day!
Parents, coaches
and supporters all ecstatically travelled the mile through
Twickenham to the stadium, hallowed as the home of English
International Rugby, and one of the best parks in the world
to play upon. A large crowd filled the stands to watch
Saracens take on
Wasps as the boys and girls prepared
themselves for perhaps the biggest games of their careers.
As the professional players went back the changing rooms,
the youngsters emerged from the tunnel to the applause of
35,000 supporters.
The event was
overwhelming, as
even some
of the coaches were awestruck with
playing on the sacred turf, but the boys and girls who
played put everything into the game and enjoyed their day
immensely. Excellent passing and running was seen by all
players, all desperate to score their try at Twickenham. The
TW1 crowd got behind all the kids on the day and offered
their vocal support (even for coach
Alison Butler
as she
took the field). The Double Header was filmed for broadcast
on Sky Sports, and live match commentary was supplied by BBC
Radio Berkshire.
Even though the
youngsters did not win their final game, they had run out
onto the Twickenham turf, in front of thousands of
spectators and played rugby to the best of their ability –
an achievement some people only dream about throughout their
lives. Aldermaston can come away from the day very proud,
especially due to the fact that from all the TAG rugby team
taking part, they had the largest contingent of girls
playing the sport. Every child was a credit to both
Aldermaston and London Irish, and we look forward to this
partnership developing in the future. Upon their arrival
back at Aldermaston's clubhouse in the evening, the
youngsters were greeted by a tunnel and applause from the
also victorious 1st XV.
London Irish 1st
XV also celebrated a good start to the new Premiership
season by beating Leeds Tykes by 27-11. Tries were
scored by Penney 36min, Armitage 42, Bishop 55, Dawson 82,
whilst Everitt added to the scoreline through 2 conversions
and a penalty.
read the official match breakdown from London Irish.com here
TAG rugby at Aldermaston is provided on
Sunday mornings from 10am at the Aldermaston AWE
Recreational Society playing fields, and is supported by
Berkshire Sports Partnership and the RFU.
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