Three Wicklow clubs do battle in rugby feast

WICKLOW clubs Arklow, Wicklow RFC and Greystones took part in the Aviva Mini Rugby Festival last weekend, participating against teams from all over the province of Leinster.

Young rugby players from 25 rugby clubs were represented at the Aviva Mini Rugby Festival in Co. Carlow RFC last Sunday, as part of the Aviva Minis Rugby Festival season.

The sides played against each other in a non-competitive and fun environment, as well as getting the chance to develop their skills and interact with other teams from across their province.

Each participant at the Festival received a Certificate of Participation exclusively signed by Robbie Henshaw, Rory Best and Jamie Heaslip.

Last Sunday’s event was one of four provincial blitzes taking place across the season, and teams that take part in these events will have the opportunity to play at the Aviva Stadium in May for the Aviva National Mini Rugby Festival.

As part of this season’s Mini Rugby Festivals, sponsors Aviva will be running a nationwide competition, open to every club in the country with a Mini Rugby team. The prize will be an Aviva/IRFU Mini Rugby Training Session at the winning teams ground along with €1,000 worth of training equipment for the team.

Aviva have also launched a series of Mini Rugby online training videos on the Aviva Ireland Facebook page with Robbie Henshaw and Jenny Murphy that see them teaching some of the core skills for Mini Rugby players, highlighting to players and coaches what they can do to improve their key skills from a young age.

Mark Russell, Sponsorship Manager, Aviva Ireland, said; “This was a great festival for all the kids involved.

“They got the opportunity to play in several matches in a non-competitive and friendly environment, make new friends and learn some new skills to enhance their enjoyment of the game.

“Hopefully we will see some of the these teams running out on the Aviva Stadium pitch next May for the National Festival,” he added.