Cardiff Arms Park was taken over by TAG rugby last week, as well over 700 children from nearly 60 schools across Cardiff and the Vale descended on the famous ground for the annual Black Horse Capital Rugby Year 5 festival.
The festival was spread across two days, both of which were blessed with fantastic sunshine providing the perfect conditions for every one of the 12 pupils from each school to showcase their talents. The kids were kept cool in the scorching heat by bottles of cool water courtesy of Cardiff Blues commercial partner Brecon Carreg.
Tries were being run in from all angles as sublime passing and clever footwork were the order of the day for all of the children. The skills that were showcased by the children had been honed through the tutelage of the development officers during their weekly visits to the schools of the region.
Development Officer Gruff Rees commented,
Its great to see that the skills we are introducing during the Capital Rugby coaching sessions at the schools are not being forgotten. We can see at first hand today that the children are listening and taking on board what they are being taught.
We had an excellent response from the schools in the region and we must thank the teachers who have taken time out of their schedule, the six students from Coleg Glan Hafren for helping referee and to Brecon Carreg for providing refreshments for all.
Rhys Davies, Headteacher at St Fagans Chuch in Wales was full of praise for the event when he said,
Its been a great day for all the children, the standard of rugby has been superb and shows the skills they learn through the scheme. The opportunity for the pupils to demonstrate TAG rugby on the Arms Park, where their heros play, is a real highlight and gives them all enthusiasm for the sport.
Hopefully they will keep this memory with them for a long time, and who knows, from some of the rugby weve seen today we might see some of them playing at the Arms Park as a Blues player in few years!
Certificates for the festival were handed out to the children courtesy of Capital Rugbys principle sponsor Black Horse. On hand to present them was Louise Harrington, along with a number of other employees including Helen Cossar, Se Harding, Linda Barnes, James King, Dan Darby, Dave Phillips, Jo Hyett, Mark Jones, Helen Jones, Mike Tallis and Craig Turner, all from the Black Horse Cardiff office who are ever supportive of the scheme.