Community coaches Cameron Leigh, Ben Murphy, Ross Doneghan, Clarke Smith and Tom Foster were on hand to help Community Development Manager Ross Peacock at the Kingston School Sports Partnership tag rugby tournament on Tuesday 10th February.
160 year 5 and 6 pupils attended Lovelace Primary School in Kingston during the morning to compete for a place to represent the Kingston Borough in the 2015 London Youth Games.
The tournament was an extremely competitive event with the final ending in a draw (6-6) at the end of normal time and having to go to 'golden try' where St Mary's Primary School were crowned the winners who now go on to represent Kingston in the London Youth Games on the 11th March 2015.
We caught up with community coach and professional player Ross Doneghan after the tournament.
He said: “It was great to see so many kids out enjoying their rugby this morning.
“School life and growing up can be pretty stressful at times so it's great that there are opportunities like today's tournament for pupils to let off some steam through the game of rugby.
“There has been some fantastic skills on show throughout the morning with the final being a very tight game indeed. Well done to everyone who took part!”
Next up was The Richmond borough tag tournament.
31 schools attended NPL Sports Grounds for their chance to attend the 2015 London Youth Games to represent the Richmond borough.
Again, the tournament was a great showcase for youth rugby in what is an already exciting year for the game with the Rugby World Cup fast approaching.
The day was a highly competitive day of rugby with another final that was too close to call.
St Stephen's took on St Mary's & St Peter's to play for their place in the London Youth Games to represent the Richmond borough.
After a breathtaking final St Stephen's were crowned eventual winners winning 7 tries to 5.
With 2 big events down, the Community team then had the weekend to recharge themselves for the third camp of the 2015/16 season.
Ran during the February half term break over three days (Tuesday 17th February – Thursday 19th February) Community Development Manager Ross Peacock and his team laid on a fun filled three days of rugby that saw 35+ youth rugby players depart the ground on Thursday afternoon with smiles all round!
We caught up with community coach and Academy captain Cameron Leigh after the camp.
He said: “Rugby camps are a hugely important part of the community programme and helps us to conclude the session block that we run in schools during term time.
The camps offers youth players a chance to develop their game out with school time and with different coaches which is extremely important for the Long Term Player Development (LTPD).
Last week saw the end of a busy half term for the community programme having worked with 12 schools since returning in the New Year.
Community Development Manager Ross Peacock said: “It has been a busy and exciting few months for the community programme.
“The boys have been working hard and we continue to establish relationships with new schools which is fantastic!
“The first half term was hugely busy and the second half term only gets busier so it's tough work but all very much worth it!”
The community programme is now preparing for their next half term to which they already have another 11 schools signed up.
Should you be interested in receiving further information about the London Scottish community programme please contact Ross Peacock – ross.peacock@londonscottish.com.
