A warm sunny October day in South London set the tone for the first festival of rugby that Southwark Rugby club has been able to host for a significant amount of time. A few improvements have been made to the program since the last festival, 11 secondary schools are now taking part in the project and London Irish have been secured as our community partner. Eight schools took part in the round-robin touch tournament where we welcomed Charter East and Charter North for the very first time.
As is ever the case the standard of rugby improved with each minute that passed, better passing, less dropped balls and less offside infringements. Newlands Academy and Sacred Heart were thrown in at the deep end with tough opening matches against St Michaels and Charter North who would both go through the day undefeated. Bacons College and London Nautical both showed flashes of great ability but weren’t consistent throughout the day. ARK Walworth came with a massive squad of 20+ but so many changes in personnel ultimately hampered them as they failed to find a consistent rhythm.
St Michaels looked strong and assured and they are the team to beat when the second festival starts on Wednesday 17th November.
