The phrase “there can only be one winner” is often used in sport but on Sunday at the KCS festival there was no more appropriate saying. With two U7 teams from WMRFC contesting the main final, it was Wimbledon as a rugby club that triumphed. Need I say more? The winning team, who were undefeated throughout the entire tournament, consisted of Lucas Luckin (who was also celebrating his birthday), Flynn Roberts, Joshua Russell, Matthew Russell, Ramses Al-Sabbagh and Tobin O’Donnell. Many congratulations to them, but also to the other two U7 teams representing this great club as they all put in huge amounts of effort. To round it off, the U12s and the U9s also won. Congratulations to you all.

There was a real sense of tension and competition which wasn’t present at Chobham the previous week due to the huge amount of inter-team rivalry. There were classmates in other teams, others had swimming lessons with some-one else, such and such defected from one team to another. Bragging rights were now on the line and the team talks reflected that. In any other scenario, the blue berets from the U.N. would have been present. But on a Sunday morning in South West London, it all helped to spice up a fairly chilly day.

The first part of the tournament started with the group stages with points awarded for a win or a draw. All three WMRFC teams came flying out of the blocks. The standard was again of the highest order with lessons learnt from Chobham. The spectators had it all - superb running, solo efforts, try-saving tagging. Match practice is certainly paying off and is forming a large part in their development.

With four matches each, the results were looking promising. Wimbledon 2 were on maximum points with the other two teams not far behind. With the usual bureaucratic obstacles to clear, the group scores were announced. The final would consist of Wimbledon 2 versus Wimbledon 3. Head Coach Deed was beside himself with excitement. The team coaches, Christian for W3 and Mark and Charlie for W2 took their young charges off for the huddle and the passionate plea to play the game of their lives.

The raucous fans loved every minute. It was close and at the final whistle it was as if the rugby world cup final had actually been played. The crowd ran onto the pitch and the players from both teams stood like heroes congratulating each other. And Head Coach Deed took the plaudits. It didn’t matter that a team won and a team lost. All twelve players loved the thrill of being in the final and playing against their mates. For the club, both teams were winners. It was brilliant.