In pictures: Youngsters show off talent as Northampton rugby club hosts huge junior festival

Northampton Old Scouts Rugby Club hosted one of the biggest junior festivals in the country this weekend.

The under-11 grassroots developmental festival gave youngsters the opportunity to lace up their boots, with a myriad of teams from the midlands and surrounding areas locking horns.

This series of nationwide events, now running for nearly two decades and organised by Land Rover – the Official Vehicle of Premiership Rugby – has seen more than 100,000 children take part to date.

Bugbrooke were the Under-11 winning team at the festival on the day, awarded with a trip to the Gallagher Premiership season finale at Twickenham later this season.

For Bugbrooke Rugby Club’s star player Tom Getty, who has experienced a long time away from the pitch after being hospitalised due to a rare complication with coronavirus, it was a memorable experience as he was able to play alongside his supportive team.

Ten-year-old Tom said: “I love all the tackling and running and getting really muddy.

“My team is really nice and sent me lots of messages when I was ill.

“The first thing I said to the doctor was ‘when can I play rugby again?’ so to have played the festival has been really fun.”

Bugbrooke Rugby Club will also be hosting a 12-hour rugby-a-thon to fundraise for Northampton General Hospital’s paediatric ward on April 23, who looked after Tom when he was ill.

Bugbrooke coach Tim Godfrey added: “The kids have been fantastic today and they've played some of the best rugby I've seen - all the teams have played really well.

“Land Rover's event has been fabulous. It's what the kids want to do - come and play tournaments and play rugby against lots of different clubs and enjoy it.

“We've got 12 hours of rugby - a 'rugby-a-thon' - for charity because one of our lads was in intensive care last year and we want to say a big thank you to the NHS for looking after him.

“It will be touch rugby, drills and skills, and then the boys are camping out on the rugby pitch after.”

Graduates of the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup have gone on to realise their rugby ambitions, with several players now playing for Premiership Rugby clubs, including Louis Lynagh at Harlequins and Callum Chick at Newcastle Falcons.

Land Rover ambassador Lewis Moody, who racked up 71 caps for England, added: “The return of the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup across the country is a huge boost for grassroots rugby.

“It is one of the longest standing national series of rugby festivals for Under-11 and Under-12 youngsters and is always a date in season that clubs look forward to being part of.”

Land Rover has been supporting grassroots rugby in the UK for nearly two decades, through the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup.