Haslemere Community Rugby Club’s under-16 squad played host to more than 100 boys for their 15-a-side Fast and Furious Festival.

Six under-16 teams played a round-robin format of eight minutes each way.

This quick-fire format proved enjoyable for the boys and entertaining for the 150-plus spectators.

Four hours of quality, hard-fought rugby was on display, spread across three pitches, with 41 tries scored.

The teams competing were Bognor, Chobham, Guildford, Haslemere, Warlingham and Weybridge Vandals. Chobham topped the table with Guildford a very close second.

Haslemere did themselves proud, competing against much bigger clubs, scoring ten tries, winning three games and finishing in third place.

Event organiser and Haslemere under-16 team manager Buff Cooper said: “This is the third year of running this event at Haslemere and it gets bigger and better every year.

“The boys love the short format as it’s no-nonsense, fast-paced, intense rugby against multiple opposition.

“Every team member has to be focused from the kick-off. If there are any weak links or you blink, you lose.

“These types of development opportunities and the success of our under-16 squad are good examples of our strong player development pathway from five years old to veterans.

“Our under-16s have toured three times in the past 18 months, making them a tight bunch who play as a team and punch way above their weight.

“They are undefeated for the past two seasons in the Surrey Waterfall competition, beating Esher in the Shield final in the 2021-22 season, following that up last December beating Farnham B in the Waterfall Cup final.”

Anyone interested in playing rugby at Haslemere should go along to their training grounds at Woolmer Hill Pavilion (GU27 1QA) on a Sunday at 10am.