NEC Harlequins hosted the Primary Schools Tag Rugby Tournament on Friday 5th December 2003. The tournament was organised by Richmond's Sports Development Team in partnership with NEC Harlequins Community Development Team represented by Richard Varney and Nick Hyde. The tournament provided a competitive Tag Rugby opportunity for primary schools in the borough.
Excitement was high after England's World Cup Victory and everyone participating was eager to play his or her own part for their school team.
The morning tournament saw the small schools from the borough battle it out to the final. After a close fought tournament St Mary Magdalen's topped the group with 23 points and were through to the final. The second place position was tied between Holy Trinity and Bishop Perrin with 17 points each. The place in the final for these two schools was decided by a count back of tries scored throughout the tournament. Bishop Perrin had scored 19 tries in the first stage, one more than Holy Trinity so Bishop Perrin went through to the final.
In the final both teams played extremely well with St Mary Magdalen's having the edge over Bishop Perrin to win.
The afternoon was the large schools tournament where a total of fourteen entered so the first round matches were split into two groups. The standard as with the morning was extremely high.
The Queen's school and Chase Bridge topped the two groups and went through to the final. The first half of the final saw Chase Bridge seemingly run away with the tournament but during the second half the Queens team raised their game and scored some fabulous tries. Chase Bridge then performed some excellent set pieces to score two further tries to win the tournament and deny the Queens team from forcing the game into extra time.
The winning teams from the morning and afternoon tournaments will now contest a trophy for the overall borough champions. The winning team will then go forward to represent the borough at the Mini Games at Crystal Palace in July.
Quins' Community Manager Richard Varney said, "both festivals provided an excellent opportunity for local children to get involved with rugby at this exciting time. With the current climate there is an excellent opportunity for numerous partners to drive rugby participation forwards."