Cup champs earn dream Twickers trip
KENILWORTH and Rugby’s next generation of rugby players have won the right to take to the hallowed turf at Twickenham next year.
An under-12s side from Kenilworth Rugby Club triumphed ahead of 15 other teams at last weekend’s Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup, which was organised by Wasps and held at Old Leamingtonians Rugby Club.
The Land Rover Premiership Cup is a series of national grassroots rugby festivals for under-11 and under-12 rugby teams, which saw 32 teams in total take part.
Kenilworth’s youngsters went on a six-game winning streak where they scored a total of 17 unanswered tries to take home the top prize of a trip to Twickenham for the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final on Saturday, June 1, 2019.
Old Laurentians under-11s, from Rugby, will also be joining Kenilworth Under-12s for the trip to London next summer after their name was drawn from a hat from the sixteen under-11 sides that took part in the tournament.
The visit to the home of England Rugby will see both teams take part in a Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup Testimonial Parade at half time in front of a sell-out crowd.
“The best part of the day was seeing the boys’ faces when the final whistle was blown on the last game and they knew they had won. It is very hard to describe that feeling and what it meant to the boys and the coaches,” said Kenilworth Rugby Club Under-12s team manager Bruce Nichol.
“This is a great achievement for the under-12s as their passion for the game shone through not only in the way they played, but also the way in which they demonstrated the rugby core values of respect, teamwork, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship at all points in the tournament.”
Wasps’ community team organised the festival while Wasps first team player Matt Mullan was also on hand to meet the teams taking part and present medals to the winning teams. The tournament’s participants have also been given the opportunity to attend Wasps’ upcoming Premiership Rugby Cup clash against Northampton Saints at the Ricoh Arena on Sunday. Rugby Reporter LONG-serving props Simon McIntyre and Jake Cooper-Woolley are set to make their playing return for Wasps this Sunday against Northampton Saints.
Loosehead forward McIntyre hasn’t featured since the penultimate game of the 2017/18 league campaign after picking up a foot injury against the Saints.
With fellow prop Matt Mullan still out until the new year, director of rugby Dai Young bolstered his options with the signing of Georgian international Zurabi Zhavania to add to his loosehead options that also include Ben Harris and Academy graduate, Tom West.
Also on the comeback trail is fellow front rower, Cooper-Woolley.
The 28-year-old tighthead is yet to appear for Wasps this season having undergone knee surgery in the summer followed by an arm injury in pre-season.
“Simon McIntyre and Jake Cooper-Woolley are back this week,” said director of rugby Dai Young. “Gaby (Lovobalavu) is back this week. Realistically, no one else is likely to come back within the next month or so.
“Once we get around the Christmas period I am sure I will have a much better idea when some of the guys will be back.”
There was also updates given on a couple of Wasps’ long-term injury absentees, Jack Willis and Jimmy Gopperth.
It was a heartbreaking end to Jack Willis’ 2017/18 season when he ruptured knee ligaments in the play-off semi-final defeat to Saracens.
The young flanker had just earned a place in Eddie Jones’ England squad to tour South Africa as reward for his stand-out performances in Black and Gold.
He was followed into ‘team rehab’ by 35-year-old Kiwi Jimmy Gopperth who ruptured knee ligaments in the pre-season game with Connacht, with a recovery period of six to nine months the likely turnaround.
“They’re both progressing but nothing changes regards they’re still a bit a way, both the injuries were for between six and nine months when they had them,” said Young.
“They’re not going to be back before six months so there’s a bit to go on that. We’re happy with their progress.
“You’ve got two guys there, if anybody is going to come back early, and early would be six months, it would be those two.”
Young also revealed the likes of Billy Searle, Marcus Watson, Ambrose Curtis, Charlie Matthews and Kearnan Myall are also likely to be involved against Northampton.