St Clare’s Catholic Primary School, of Coalville, beat Burton on the Wolds Primary School and Richard Hill CofE Primary School at Welford Road on Saturday to be crowned the 2009 A&L champions.
Malcolm Percival, year 6 teacher at Richard Hill, said the programme, which sees Tigers deliver tag coaching in every school in Leicestershire and Rutland, lets children dream of playing at the home of Tigers.
He said: “I am so proud of my children, I couldn’t be prouder of the whole team.
“Leicester Tigers and A&L doing this gives the children something to dream of.
“We lost to a better team. They were fantastic and congratulations to them. We have been to the area final at Welford Road. To come here and get a second bite of the cherry is amazing. It’s a day we will never forget.”
The three schools won through to the end of year finals after winning their respective titles earlier in the season. Burton on the Wolds won the A&L Tag Burleigh partnership, Richard Hill were the South Charnwood champions while St Clare’s were the North West Leicestershire winners.
Saturday’s round-robin tournament was played before Tigers’ thrilling 37-31 Guinness Premiership win over Sale Sharks.
It began with a narrow 7-6 win for Burton on the Wolds against Richard Hill. St Clare’s then won 9-5 against Burton on the Wolds before beating Richard Hill 8-2 to land the title.
Sarah Noon, St Clare’s coach and school governor, said: “We are over the moon and extremely proud. They are hoping to fill the trophies with ice cream and have it in assembly.”
Mick Waller, Burton on the Wolds coach, said: “It’s been fantastic. The children had an absolutely fantastic time.”
St Clare’s now go through to face the year one winners St Nicholas CofE School, of Oakham, and the and year two winners, Badgerbrook Primary School, of Whetstone, to find the A&L Tag champion of champions. It will take place at the Walkers Stadium on Saturday, April 25 before Tigers’ final home game of the regular Guinness Premiership season.
Tigers’ Alliance and Leicester Tag programme is a three-year rolling programme which sees Tigers deliver tag rugby coaching to every school in Leicestershire and Rutland. So far more than 60,000 children have enjoyed an introduction to rugby through the programme.
