Two teams braved the foggy northern reaches of London, with everyone even showing up on time despite the clock changes. A much more intimate festival than last week, with Hampstead one of five clubs and two of the eight squads, and the boys had a good run out against some very difficult squads. Special mention to Elliot and Walter for their first matches - was great to have them and both made some great tackles.

Hampstead 1 started out against Hammersmith (for some a repeat of last week) and had a tough battle from the off. The team grew into it with some charging runs and good tackling but struggled with a hard running center and weren’t quite able to keep pace. Hampstead 2 then followed that up with a similar match against Amersham, leaking a try or two early and struggling a little to reimpose themselves on the game. The boys kept working hard and scored a good few tries, but defence and the breakdown were not firing completely and they fell a little short in the end.

Second round for both teams was against the two Sarries squads. Hampstead 1 led off and a combination of penetrating runs and starting to get the passing going well led to some very well worked tries. When coupled with some open field tackling and working very hard in the rucks, the team ran out convincing winners. Hampstead 2 then followed them out on to the same field, and played similarly well. This was a tighter match, with some very hard tackling by both sides, but a few opportunistic tries let the boys come away with the win.

Final round of the day was unfortunately a walkover for both teams as Ealing withdrew and left early. The boys decided to go for a scrimmage, with Hampstead 1 going inside out with the jerseys (some team name debate with Inside Outs and Ghosts being the leaders). The game opened up a bit with a bit of a barbarians feel, but was great to see the boys keep going, and to play hard until the end.

Thanks again to everyone - especially the mums who spent Mother’s Day in the cold.

Match details

Match date

Sun 27 Mar 2022

Kickoff

10:00

Meet time

09:15

Instructions

DATE: SUNDAY 27TH MARCH
VENUE: SARACENS RUGBY CLUB
Bramley Sports Club, Green Road, Southgate.
London N14 4AB

All Matches are scheduled to Kick off at 10am and all matches are scheduled to end by 2pm.

Saracens Rugby Club are delighted to welcome you to our Festival of mini rugby.Our primary aim is for all present, players, parents and spectators, to have a day enjoying the wonderful game of rugby and all it gives us.

GENERAL INFORMATION TIMINGS
09:30 Registration
09:45 Referee & coach briefings

REGISTRATION:

Registration will be open from 09:00 in the main marquee in front of the clubhouse.

CAR PARKING:
There is some parking available in De Bohun Primary school (Green Road, N14 4AD) available from 08:30 on a first come-first serve basis at a charge of £5 / vehicle. Please follow the directions of the parking marshals. Parking is otherwise possible in the surrounding residential roads although we would strongly request careful and courteous parking of all vehicles, assisting us in maintaining the goodwill of residents. If your match day party includes people with a disability or limited mobility, then please contact us before the day to ensure suitable arrangements can be made for drop-off and, potentially, parking.

SAFETY:
All children are the responsibility of parents, guardians, and team coaches. Lost and found items (including children) will be taken to the Festival Main Control Point in front of the Clubhouse. No studs are to be worn in the clubhouse for the children’s own safety. There are no fire drills planned so any alarm is to be treated as a real incident, when announcements will be made.

FIRST AID:
St JOHNS MEDICAL will be in attendance for the duration of the festival with paramedics, a shelter and an ambulance on site. First Aiders from Saracens along with those from each visiting club will also be on duty and will arrange for additional medical assistance if necessary. Only fully qualified First Aiders and/or the festival paramedics can give permission for injured players to continue playing.

TEAM SHELTERS:
Anyone bringing team shelters is requested to ensure they are set up in or as close as possible to the allocated areas of the ground. This means away from the pitches and in positions where they do not obstruct any walkways or access roads. We would urge you to share tents between age groups where possible.

FOOD & DRINK:
Food and drinks will be available from within and around the clubhouse during the event. The bar will also be open in the Clubhouse.

LITTER:
Black bin liners will be handed out to all teams at registration. Please keep your team areas including shelters clean and free of rubbish. The same applies to shared practice areas and, of course, to match pitches. Please make sure you leave the area as you found it - thank you in advance...;-)

PHOTOGRAPHS:
DE-Photo will once again be present as the Professional Sports and Event Photographers for this festival. This event, by its very nature, is in the public arena and when entering for the event the participant and their parents acknowledges this fact which may result in the recording and publication of his/her image. All DE Photo photographers and staff have been through DBS check and the company operates a strict Child Protection Policy and Code of Ethics, which can be viewed on their website at www.dephoto.biz.

Anyone else attending the Festival that wishes to take photographs or video for their own or club use, please refer to page 10 of RFU safeguarding toolkit

TOILETS:
Male and female toilets are available in the clubhouse. Porta loos are also available on site.

DOGS: Dogs are not encouraged in the ground, other than pre authorised guide dogs if appropriate.

THE RUGBY

RULES:
The festival will be conducted under the 2021/2022 regulations for all ages and in accordance with age grade rugby framework– see the RFU website: http://www.englandrugby.com/my-rugby/players/age-grade-rugby,http://www.englandrugby.com/gover nance/regulations/

Readiness:
All teams and referees are requested to be ready at least 5 minutes before each match so that allotted start times are maintained. THANK YOU!

Team overview