Max Salisbury and his Buckingham U12s battled through at Worcester Warriors to secure a spot for themselves as part of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final at Twickenham in May after success at this weekend’s Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup. 

Buckingham received the incredible prize after taking part in the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup – a nationwide series for U11 and U12 teams – on Saturday at Sixways, hosted by Aviva Premiership Rugby side Worcester Warriors.

Launched during the 2008-09 season, the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup is the first national grassroots tournament officiated by Premiership Rugby and run in conjunction with all 12 clubs.

Over 7,000 children take part in the competition each season, with an U11 and U12 team from each Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup getting the chance to go to the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final at Twickenham on May 27.

Salisbury and Buckingham U12s will be heading to Rugby HQ, where they will meet an England 2003 Rugby World Cup winner, join in a Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup Parade at half-time and hear which of them has won a club MVP award.

The tournament was organised by Worcester and saw Buckingham as one of 30 teams that took part in the festival.

Salisbury said: "I'm really excited that we'll all be going to Twickenham, it's going to be great.

"I thought we played really well all through the day, even though we came up against some tough opposition and we pulled through in the final against Maidenhead, who are a very good team.

"We've had to travel a long way to get here and winning the trophy has just capped a day that we've all really enjoyed.” 

Buckingham will be joined at Twickenham by Stamford U11s after they also earned the opportunity to take part in the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup Parade.

Stamford played group matches against Ledbury, Manchester and Oswestry before they learned of their incredible prize.

“It's an amazing feeling to be going to Twickenham, absolutely amazing," said Stamford player Finn Moloney. "We're all going to love being there next month.

"It's been great playing here right next to a Premiership Rugby club and it's been a good opportunity to test ourselves against teams we don't usually play.

"This is the first time we've played against any of these teams, who are from around the country, so that's made this very enjoyable."

Worcester Warriors back rower Matt Cox turned up to support the event at Sixways and, after signing autographs and having his photo taken with the young players, he praised what the festival does for grassroots rugby and how it inspires children to stay involved in the sport.

Cox said: "It's great to see so many young kids get the chance to play right next to Sixways and there's such a good prize at the end of it. Going to Twickenham is what every player dreams of when growing up.

"Worcester has a good record when it comes to bringing young players through its academy and hopefully playing in this will inspire some of them to follow in our footsteps.

"The standard of play has been good and I've been surprised with just how intense it's been, considering these kids are only 11 or 12 years old."

Land Rover is a proud supporter of grassroots rugby and has been a partner of the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup for nearly a decade. Land Rover’s ‘We Deal In Real’ campaign continues to champion grassroots rugby through Premiership Rugby and the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup. @LandRoverRugby #WeDealInReal.