On 8 June the entire club were able to watch with great pride as two of our wonderful Inclusive Rugby players - William and Ben - acted as ball carriers at the start of each half of the Gallagher Premiership Final between Northampton and Bath.

Their journey to Twickenham started with a visit from ITV's David Flatman who came to the club to tell the kids that they had won this prestigious opportunity thanks to their contribution to charity fundraising.

And then on matchday our Inclusive Rugby coaches (and club legends) John Woods and Stef Laventure, along with the boys' parents and other club members, got to watch them in person as they ran the ball onto the pitch to referee Christophe Ridley. Here's William's big moment...

And here's Ben's...

Our Inclusive Rugby section exists to help kids with SENs play rugby. They benefit hugely from these sessions growing in confidence and physical ability. Read more about our Inclusive Rugby section here.

One of the boys parents from the Final shared the following feedback...

"All of you have made such a fundamental difference to Ben’s life, giving him the confidence and ability to believe in himself he now has through this great sport. I said to Chris Robshaw this morning [8 June 2024] (sorry, let me pick up that name i just dropped) did he remember training the inclusives? He said yes, but shame about the noisy one who was named after a black-and-white striped animal.

I then said to him, it took weeks to get Ben onto a pitch with 10 people. This afternoon he’s walking onto a pitch with 82,000 people on it. If that doesn’t show you how incredible the inclusive concept is then what does?

It is only really this evening I am realising the enormity of what you have all achieved. Bringing someone from a point that they could not bear to even be in a team, to a point at which they were happy to walk out in front of a full Twickenham Stadium.

All of you should be so incredibly proud of what you have achieved not just for the mainstream children but in particular for the children who have been through the inclusive pathway. Much love."