On a beautiful sunny day Ipswich Rugby Club hosted their inaugural Youth sevens festival.
The Idea behind the “Road to Rio 7s” was to give Ipswich’s youth their very own home festival and to coincide it with rugby’s return to the Olympic Games in 2016. Rugby returns to the Rio Games in the 7s format after a long absence.
Teams from all over eastern counties and a touring side from Biggleswade helped make the day a big success with some great open rugby on some fantastic playing surfaces.
All five pitches were busy from 10am until the plate and cup finals at 3.30pm, with over 350 players aged between 13 and 17 enjoying the Humber Doucy Lane hospitality.
In true festival spirit the under-15s visiting teams, along with Ipswich, joined forces to play as a Rio Barbarians side, giving more boys a chance to play and soak up the atmosphere.
Festival organiser Darren Wright said “I don’t think anyone at Ipswich rugby club can quite believe how successful the day was. Many teams have already booked up for next year’s festival which we will be opening up to all youth age groups over two days to cope with the demand.
“We have been very fortunate to have some great sponsors like Sackers recycling who even given the current climate always support this rugby club and make events like this possible.”
There was also a visit from the East Anglian Air Ambulance which landed on the 1st XV pitch to pick up a cheque from the club who made the EAAA their chosen charity at the beginning of the season
For anyone interested in joining Ipswich Rugby club, they will be registering all old and new players on Sunday September 1. Please contact Darren Wright at darren.irfc@gmail.com for further details.
U14s Road 2 Rio bowl winners: Woodbridge A
U14s Road 2 Rio plate winners : Braintree
U14s Road 2 Rio cup winners : Bury St Edmunds
U15s Road 2 Rio Plate Winners : Hadleigh
U15s Road 2 Rio Cup Winners : Chelmsford
U17sRoad 2 Rio plate winners: Biggleswade
U17s Road 2 Rio cup winners : Ipswich RFC
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