On Sunday we saw the Defender Premiership Rugby Cup return to Kingston Park Stadium, where over 1,000 young aspiring players competed in the Under-11s and Under-12s age categories.
The event saw rugby clubs from grassroots levels across Northumberland, Durham, North Yorkshire and Cumbria gathering at Newcastle Falcons’ home ground for an action-packed day of rugby.
Defender has been supporting rugby at all levels in the UK for nearly two decades, from the grassroots to the elite. Land Rover’s support for grassroots rugby in the UK is typified through the Defender Premiership Rugby Cup, a nationwide series of rugby festivals for Under-11s and Under-12s teams.
Vital in fostering the values at the heart of the game, the Defender Premiership Rugby Cup is a key part of the grassroots rugby calendar each season that allows Defender to connect with the rugby community and the people at the heart of it.
The events are designed to provide aspiring young players with the chance to play competitive fixtures in a format to aid their development, all within the spirit of rugby’s core values of teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship – allowing them to learn vital lessons that will serve them both on and off the rugby pitch.
Since its inception the Defender Premiership Rugby Cup has helped over 100,000 youngsters discover rugby through the annual rugby events, with some realising their dreams of going on to play for Premiership Rugby clubs.
The Under-11s winners were Ashington RFC and the Under-12s winners were Whitley Bay Rockcliff RFC. Due to age-grade rules, the selection of winning teams was based on those that embodied rugby’s core values throughout their participation, and teams were chosen by opposition coaches and community staff.
