Alton under 11s started the tournament with a squad reduced to only 12 players, the rest unable to play through illness. However, the boys didn’t worry about the lack of substitutes and got on with the job of playing some excellent rugby and enjoying themselves!

Alton’s pool games began with a game against Basingstoke, which Alton narrowly lost by 1 try to nil. They then played out a very creditable 1-1 draw with New Milton, followed by a 2 tries to nil victory against a solid Salisbury team. Alton needed to win the last game against Chobham (who had won their first three games without conceding a try) to proceed in the tournament. The score was one try apiece at half time but Chobham scored two breakaway tries in the second half to finish pool leaders, with Basingstoke 2nd and Alton closely behind in 3rd.

The team played some fantastic rugby, with some excellent support and breakdown play. Knowing they had no reserves to call on, the boys really pulled together and played for each other- and we definitely had more fun than any other team!