Kids give perfect antidote to England Rugby World Cup blues

ENGLAND may be out of the Rugby World Cup, but the sport appears safe in the hands of the next generation.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Oct 2015, 09:52 BST

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Action at the Done By 2 festivalAction at the Done By 2 festival
Action at the Done By 2 festival

On a beautiful morning, Chichester RFC hosted their annual Done by Two festival.

Organisers could not have hoped for better weather conditions. More than 850 children and 1,000 adults from teams across West Sussex and Hampshire descended upon Oaklands Park for the festival. There was not a spot of the park not devoted to rugby.

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It was a great sight to see so many young people enjoying themselves. The aim of the festival is to be finished by 2pm, which was very nearly achieved apart from a few finals running slightly over.

Teams came from Haywards Heath, Hove, Midhurst, Crawley, Winchester, Pulborough, Worthing, Horsham, Brighton and Chichester in age groups from under-seven to under-12.

The festival is based upon a pool system with the winner of each pool going on to contest the final. Teams at under-seven and eight were allowed to enter more than one team.

The skill level shown by the children was outstanding with players’ sidestepping and jinking their way to score. The tackling was ferocious with some of the games seeing only one try scored, which clearly shows a strong defence.

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The festival was sponsored by NJS Group and CRFC stalwart Nick Shopland, owner of NJS, attended to watch the festival and hand out the winners’ medal and prizes, along with The Mayor of Chichester Cllr Peter Budge.

Winners and runners-up: U7A Pool Winners – Horsham A; Runners Up – Brighton A; U7B Pool Winners – Haywards Heath B; Runners Up – Pulborough C; U8A Pool Winners – Worthing A; Runners Up – Haywards Heath A; U8B Pool Winners – Horsham B; Runners Up – Midhurst A; U9 Joint Winners – Chichester/Hove; U10 Winners – Chichester A; Runners Up – Winchester; U11 Winners – Haywards Heath; Runners Up – Chichester B; U12

Winners – Hove; Runners Up – Winchester.

Local teams did exceptionally well and congratulations go to all the Chichester teams for representing the city with such pride and passion.

Chichester RFC thanked sponsors, helpers and parents.

The festival is an annual event and if any company or individual would like to get involved next year theyted to contact the club.

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Chichester have more than 500 children registered from under-six to under-18.

The club were one of the first to receive the RFU Seal of Approval for their mini and junior section. Mini and junior training is every Sunday starting at 10am – for further information please see www.pitchero.com/clubs/chichester

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Related topics:EnglandOrganisers