Over sixty schools took part in the Capital Rugby festival sponsored by Black Horse earlier this month.
The two-day festival was a great success, attracting 615 players and resulting in 851 tries being scored.
Cardiff Arms Park was the scene for this occasion and schools from Cardiff and throughout the Vale of Glamorgan responded with great enthusiasm, it was very satisfying to see so many boys and girls, not to mention their teachers and parents, turning up at the arms park, said Capital Rugbys John Huw Williams.
He added: it was a perfect end to two terms of hard work and improved skills by everyone concerned. The thing we believe in more than anything with Capital Rugby is how important it is to take part.
As it happens, 10 schools- Creigiau, Llandaff (Church in Wales), Murch, Oakfield (Ely), Romilly, Radyr, St Frances, Ysgol Melin Gruffydd, Ysgol Pen-y-Garth, and Ysgol St Curig did win all the tag games they played, but what was more important was that every one of the pupils was awarded a certificate for their efforts.
Thats what Capital Rugby is all about working hard and improving.
It was also noticeable that although 10 to 12 players was the suggested number for each team, some schools brought along as many as 15 boys and girls who wanted to take part further proof of the continuing success of Capital Rugby and the tag format it encourages.
Williams was also full of praise for the members of Cardiffs first-team squad- Craig Morgan, Rob Appleyard, Gary Powell, Andrew Lewis, Greg Woods and Jaime Robinson- who turned out to coach the youngsters.
What we must always remember is that these players are heroes in the schools, said Williams. Its like Christmas for the boys and girls when they are coached by them.
The players also seem to love it. In fact, once Rob Appleyard had picked up a whistle and started refereeing the matches there was no stopping him.
We are all very grateful to Black Horse for their help on the day in presenting the awards to each pupil and school and also for the continued financial support, without their help it would not be possible for us to stage such fantastic festivals.
The presentations were made by a variety of Black Horse senior management:
Linda Snave, Sarah Moore, Nia Morus, Nigel Williams, Graham Field, Nigel Harries and Mark Crocker.
John Huw Williams and his team are still reflecting on the great popularity of last weeks two-day extravaganza, saying: it had been one of the biggest festivals in terms of the numbers taking part in all of Wales.