On Sunday 15th May saw the first U15s Ready for Age Grade clubs festival held at Bedwas RFC.
Eleven clubs and over 200 players from across the region took part in an all day tournament viewed by the regional age grade and academy staff. The aim of the event was to identify players from outside of the current system and provide our strong club game with an opportunity to show off the talent that exists within our region.
The tournament culminated in three finals with NHSOB winning the Cup, Nelson winning the Plate and Caldicot winning the Bowl. More importantly, a further 15 players were identified for the U16s development programme starting in June.
Dragons Academy Manager, James Chapron commented, "This is a great event for the region. The Rugby Coordinators, Aled James and Lewis Roberts, have run a fantastic event and provided more opportunities for players to hold their hands up for regional places. For whatever reason, players miss out on opportunities to be selected for District rugby but that should not mean it is the end of their opportunity to progress. Rugby is a late development sport and it is important that we have events like this to keep the door open for players to come in when they are ready."
Teams included:
Abergavenny
Blackwood
Brynmawr
Caldicot
Croesycuiliog
Cwmbran
Machen
Nelson
Newbridge
NHSOB
Penallta
