Attended by 200 or so guests and very ably orchestrated by Mad Max, everyone was entertained throughout the evening and enjoyed a superb meal accompanied by excellent wines. Everyone had a player allocated to their table so it was a chance to hear what they thought about the season so far, their ambitions for the future, and the names of their grannies!

The raffle was particularly successful, raising almost £1000 for the ring fenced Academy fund and much of that success was down to the excellence of the prizes on offer. With a pair of tickets for flights to Abu Dhabi as the star prize, generously donated by Etihad, and weekend breaks from Greene King alongside the more usual prizes, there were no difficulties selling the tickets.

The Players' Awards as voted for by Quinssa members were presented by committee member Emma Stewart who managed a kiss and a hug from each of the winning players. Each winner received a framed photo-montage of themselves from the season so far. The category winners were:

Best forward: Chris Robshaw
Best back: Tom Williams
Best player not to have scored a try: Nick Easter
Champagne moment: the 29 phases and drop goal against Stade at The Stoop
Unsung hero: Ceri Jones
Quinssa favourite player: Tani Fuga

The awards were generously sponsored by The Kingston Lodge Hotel which is part of the Brook Hotel chain. With hotels throughout the UK they offer special discounts to Quinssa members for weekend bookings. www.brook-hotels.co.uk
Tony Diprose was presented with a cheque for the Academy from committee member Warren Kennedy.

Accepting the cheque from Quinssa, Tony Diprose said that he was delighted at Quinssa's continued support for the Academy. He expected that it would be used to further the development of specific players. This may include players gaining experience in the southern hemisphere as well as going toward the costs of Quins' Academy involvement in the National U17 and U15 competitions. Finally he thanked all the individual Quinssa members who have so generously contributed to the Quinssa Academy fund.

After much merriment from our lunatic compere "Maxamillian the Magnificent" the evening progressed with dancing from the band Riser until midnight. The players had crept away long before this so as to be fit and able for the challenge of London Irish on Saturday.

Special mentions must go to Emma for the organisation and Zoe Westlake from the club for her help and assistance in staging another successful event in the busy calendar of Quinssa.