Haslemere Rugby Club hosted its annual U12s Minis Rugby Festival, at Woolmer Hill, earlier this month – aiming to capitalise on Rugby World Cup fever.

In addition to the hosts, the visiting clubs – Horsham, Midhurst and Cranleigh created a great atmosphere of over 500 children playing rugby on a sunny October day.

The U7s and U8s played tag rugby and U9s- U12s played contact rugby across 16 pitches for four hours of extremely competitive matches. Club spokesman Matthew Westley said: “The great weather, amazing efforts of all the players and spirit of the clubs made for a fantastic festival of rugby with dazzling tries and match winning tackles to be seen in every game.

“Away from the pitches the players, parents and supporters were kept fuelled by the Chairman, Ged Hall, and his team in the barbecue tent.”

If there are any aspiring rugby players of all ages and abilities keen to try for the first time or return to rugby, the club trains every Sunday morning. Further details are on the website:http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/haslemerecommunityrugbyclub/

Although England spectacularly failed by becoming the first nation to fail to qualify from the pool stages in the Rugby World Cup’s near 30-year history, the standard of play by the Southern Hemisphere teams – and minnows Japan – has entertained millions of fans.