Newbury RFC claim victory at Portsmouth Heineken 10s
Newbury RFC sneaked to victory at the sixth Heineken 10s rugby festival held at US Portsmouth RFC on Saturday 27th September as the Berkshire club made the most of a last minute entry in to the competition to claim the honours. Newbury battled to an exhausting 24 – 12 win over Southampton Uni in the Cup final as their flair and class eventually shone through in the latter stages of a cagey, tight match. Earlier, the Berkshire side had put in some battling performances in the pool stages to overcome United Services 1, Winchester Vets, Sandown 2’s as well as defeating their final opponents. In the plate competition, Southampton Uni’s second team made it a good day all round for the Southampton students by claiming the honours, with a comprehensive victory over the home team in the final. Southampton racked up a half century of points in an end to end, edge of the seat spectacular and there was plenty of free flowing rugby in a pool that also included Portsmouth Uni Old Boys, Havant Mariners, Southampton Uni Hospital and Sandown. Clayton Patilla, tournament organiser at US Portsmouth RFC, said: “The day was a great success with perfect weather and some wonderful free flowing rugby played in a wonderful spirit – exactly what the Heineken 10s is all about. The two finals were great spectacles with the Plate competition in particular being end to end edge of your seat entertainment for the neutrals in the crowd. We were delighted to host the competition and look forward to hosting the tournament again next year.” By winning the sixth Heineken 10s festival, Newbury automatically go into the hat alongside previous victors to become eligible for the Heineken legacy donation, which will be awarded to one of the victorious clubs at the completion of the competition. The Heineken 10s, which take place at 15 separate clubs this autumn, will act as the perfect prelude to another exciting season of European competition. The tournaments are the first ever national club 10s tournament in England and will see over 3000 amateur players getting involved. For more information about the Heineken 10s, please log on to http://www.heinekenrugby.co.uk/ and those interested in playing in future tournaments can register now by emailing heineken10s@fstrk.com. Article and image courtesy of heinekenrugby.co.uk