Aldermaston RFC hosted its
annual schools rugby TAG tournament on a sunny May
Saturday, and welcomed teams from Tadley School,
Silchester School, Burnham copse and Whitelands School.
The schools were fielding teams split into upper and
lower age groups, and there were nearly 100 young rugby
players on the day. The match's were keenly contested,
and the standard of rugby shown by all teams was of the
highest calibre, with most games been very close
affairs. Tadley school in particular had only been
playing rugby for 6 weeks and put on a most notable
performance.The only slight lapses in concentration
came when London Irish's mascot DIGGER the dog made a
special guest appearance, causing much excitement with
all the kids. DIGGER was instantly mobbed by his young
Aldermaston friends and made lots of new friends
from Aldermaston RFC's visiting schools. DIGGER was soon
up to his usual mischievous antics, completely ignoring
the ' NO DOGS' signs and was soon seen eating sweets
from the 'Tuck Shop'. Digger mingled with all the kids
and parents, and made sure everyone had a chance to get
their picture taken with the London Irish superstar.
The TAG tournament was closely contested all the way
to the finals, with the Upper age group been played
between two teams from the same school !!! Burnham Copse
'A' played Burnham Copse 'B' in an end to end game which
just resulted in a win for Burnham Copse 'A'.
Celebrations all round at Burnham Copse as they
collected first prize and the runners up prize. I'm sure
London Irish will have to keep a close eye on this rugby
mad school, maybe a few future stars.
The Lower age group final again featured a team from
Burnham Copse!!! and they were up against local school
Silchester. The first half ended, and it was anybody's
game with only one point separating the two teams. The
second half was a bit more one sided with Silchester
emerging as the eventual winners.
The prize giving was hosted by Kevin Banbury from
Aldermaston RFC, and he was assisted by DIGGER who
stayed on to sign autographs, but had to leave soon
after as he was missing his kennel at the Mad Stad.
Many Many thanks to the young players, the parents,
and Aldermaston RFC event crew who helped set up the
day.
