It was a fantastic Autumn day at Chippenham Fields last Sunday (12th Oct) when Monmouth hosted their Young Rugby Festival. The under 10s were in fine form, and sporting their new kit which was kindly donated by Tournament sponsors Lidl.

Monmouth started well in the first game against valleys team Tredegar, and quickly gained the lead with a well worked try from Max Norman who stormed over the line with a 20 yard dash. Tredegar put up an excellent display of forward play with their tough pack, but shortly before half time, Monmouth scored again with some fine forwards play themselves with prop forward Rhys Carlton touching down in the corner.

Tredegar came out in the second half determined to pull some points back. Monmouth however defended admirably with some great tackling from Paris Thomas and Max Webley in particular, and excellent rucking skills from all of the team. Monmouth then broke through the Tredegar line with a try from Paris Thomas.

Max Norman stormed through the Tredegar defence to score his second try, and then Tom Watkins sealed the game with a try which came from some excellent backs play.

Tredegar battled on despite being 20 points down and pounded the Monmouth line in the closing minutes of the game. It's a credit to the defensive skills and determination of Monmouth that they held the line, and kept Tredegar at bay to chalk up their first win of the day 25 points to 0.

Monmouth then faced local rivals Abergavenny in their second game determined to avenge a heavy defeat at home last season. Abergavenny started off well as expected, but Monmouth were more than a match for them and with some impressive forwards and backs play cancelled out everything that Abergavenny could throw at them.

Indeed, during the second half Monmouth pushed Abergavenny hard and with some fine backs play in particular by Leo Herriot, Callum McIngtosh and Louis McFarlane they were unlucky not to score. The game ended with a 0-0 draw.

Monmouth stated their final game of the festival against English rivals Berry Hill. Monmouth needed to score 5 tries to win the tournament – a big ask against such tough opponents.

Spurred on by the prospect of taking the cup, every member of the Monmouth team played their hearts out. Monmouth took the lead with a fine individual try by newcomer Luke Harrell.

Berry Hill came back well, but failed to break through the Monmouth defence thanks to some determined tackling from the team.

Shortly before half time, Monmouth pressurised Berry Hill with a great forwards drive, and Jamie Hancock broke free to score his debut try for the team just before the half time whistle.

Monmouth needed 3 more tries to clinch the tournament, and the boys again came out strongly and pushed into the Berry Hill half. Again the forwards dominated and after some fine rucking play by Rhys Carlton and James Williams the ball was fed to the backs. Luke Harrell took the ball on a break from full back and jinxed through the Berry Hill defence to score his second try.

Berry Hill fought back well but Monmouth were too strong for them as the forwards pushed home their superiority. After some excellent rucking, Paris Thomas picked up the ball 10 yards from the Berry Hill line and drove through strongly to score. Monmouth now needed only 1 more try to seal the tournament.

During a fantastic climax to the game in the final 2 minutes Monmouth pushed Berry Hill to the limit looking for that all important tournament sealing try, but Berry Hill's defence held up well and the game finished 20-0 to Monmouth.

As a result, Monmouth shared the under 10's festival winners title with Abergavenny which is a tremendous result for the team and is a massive credit to the players and in particular head coach Chris Webley.