MORE than 700 youngsters descended on Chippenham rugby club last weekend as they held the first part of the 2016 edition of their Mini Rugby Festival.

Players from 16 different clubs took part in U7, U9 and U11 competitions at Allington Field.

Bath Academy players Tom Woolstencroft and Max Northcote-Green, as well as Spencer Baber, from festival sponsor M+W Group, were on hand to give out the prizes on the day as teams from the likes of Wales, Buckinghamshire and Devon all vied for medals.

Teams from the host club took home outstanding play awards in three of the five U7 competitions, with Chippenham Eagles and Ospreys given the nod in the Lions and Tigers Leagues respectively, whilst Chippenham Kestrels shared the Jaguars League award with Stow Stampeders.

Marlborough Tigers also claimed the honours in the Leopards League.

In the U9 age group, Marlborough Tigers and Marlborough Wasps were the pick of the bunch in the Panthers and Leopards Leagues respectively.

There were no Wiltshire representatives in the finals of either of the U11 competitions, with Cardiff-based outfit St Peters Tigers getting the better of Hungerford in the final of the Festival Cup, and Bridgend then proved too good for St Peters Panthers in an all-Welsh Challenge Cup final.

Old Patesians Red and Old Patesians Blue – from Cheltenham – took home the Festival Plate and Festival Shield prizes after their victories over Stow Bears and Stow Sharks respectively.