Back in October the under 10s entered the Prima Tiger Cup festival hosted at Lichfield. The tournament, now in its 29th year, attracts more than 70 entries each season and is supported by Prima Solutions. The competition, run by Leicester Tigers, champions rugby’s core values of teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship. The Fair Play Scoring System used looks to reward positive behaviours and attitudes both on and off the pitch - so players, coaches and supporters are all included. After playing really well, Vs managed to progress through the festival at Lichfield and were invited to take part in the next stage. On Sunday (27/11/22) Vs u10s travelled over to Leicester Tigers’ Mattioli Woods Welford Road stadium to play in the Barker Shield. Despite nearly missing the tournament (who knew South Leicester RFC were based on Welford Road but in Wigston!!) a quick drop off outside the stadium meant that we were just in time for the delayed start. The Vs first match was against Melbourne who were well organised and had some strong runners. However, some strong tackling by the Vs from the off put us in a strong position and, although it was a close match, Vs managed to get the ball into space quicker and scored a couple of excellent tries to seal the win. Having watched our next opponents, Holt RFC play exceptionally well to beat Lutterworth, the coaches knew we would need to raise our game, especially at the breakdown. Some pre-match drills seemed to do the trick as the Vs rucked well and kept the ball alive exceptionally. Some fantastic team tries and a length-of-the-pitch solo special kept Holt at arm’s length to win the match. Both on and off the pitch the boys represented the club excellently and the parents weren’t too badly behaved either!! The boys subsequently spent a great afternoon bonding as a team, watching Leicester beat London Irish and getting to go on the pitch at half-time for a team photo. Notable mentions must go to Steve Sutton for getting us back to the coach park and to James Khan for his exceptional support for his teammates, embodying what the tournament is all about. We’re pleased to be able to announce that Veseyans u10s have now been confirmed as 2022-23 Prima Barker Shield Champions. The team will now have the opportunity to participate in the Prima Tiger Cup Celebration Day in April, again at Mattioli Woods. This day is all about celebrating the six teams who have best represented the sport and become ‘Prima Champions’. The team will now take part in one of three matches in the centre of the pitch before Tigers take on Exeter Chiefs. It’s a day the group are already looking forward to and all support is welcome! Thanks to all those involved.
