THOUSANDS of players and supporters descended on the Sports Ground and Chippenham Field for the recent Monmouth Young Rugby Festival, reports CLAIRE EVANS.

After many months of organising, the annual event – which has become the biggest one-day rugby festival in South Wales – saw 120 teams taking part and 4,000 people attending.

The forecasted weather for the day was not good but thankfully it ended up being kind for most of the day with the sun shining.

And both players and spectators were able to enjoy a great day out supporting grassroots rugby.

All the players in Under 7s to Under 11s were awarded participations medals by former Wales star Richie Rees and England and British & Irish Lions star Tim Stimpson.

In the Under 12s to Under 16s age group, competitive games were played for Cup, Plate and Bowl.

All Monmouth teams in these age groups did incredibly well... particularly the Under 13s who won the Plate Final and the Under 14s winning the Cup Final.

Monmouth Young Rugby Under 13s won the Plate
Monmouth Young Rugby Under 13s won the Plate (Monmouth Young Rugby)

The Under 16s played some competitive rugby on a day which marked their last few games for Monmouth Young Rugby.

Once again, this year the festival was fortunate to have two main event sponsors: Haberdashers’ Schools Monmouth and Hartpury University & College, which is renowned as a centre of sporting excellence.

Monmouth Young Rugby Under 16s
Monmouth Young Rugby Under 16s. (Monmouth Young Rugby)

Local businesses also dug deep to support each age group from Under 7s right through to Under 16s.

“Without the support of local businesses, it would be impossible to put on such a large-scale event for our young rugby players, we really are grateful to our sponsors," said Stuart Paterson, Chairman of Monmouth Young Rugby.

"The day itself saw 120 teams from both Wales and England attend our festival and we have received some fantastic feedback. We have already started taking bookings for next year’s festival which will be on Sunday, April 27, 2025.

"A huge thank you to our organisers, sponsors and teams from all of us at Monmouth Young Rugby!"

Andrew Davies, Chairman of Monmouth RFC, added: “There was a great atmosphere on the day, a truly great way to continue the celebrations for our 150th year.”

Festival sponsors included – Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools, Hartpury University & College, Lanes Garage & Recovery, Express Windows Coleford Ltd, Save the Wye!, Headkayse, Pengethley Farm Shop, HP Scaffolding Ltd, David James Residential Sales, HCR Law and Archer & Co with Abbie Drew.

Monmouth Young Rugby has a thriving young rugby section from Under 7s right through to Under 16s.

Offering a safe, fun, and rewarding environment to play rugby, anyone interested in getting involved can contact Stuart Paterson for further information at [email protected].

You can also find Monmouth Young Rugby on Facebook, Instagram and X.