Riley Anderson and his Finborough School U12s team secured a spot as part of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final at Twickenham in May after success at this weekend’s Northampton Saints leg of the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup. 

Finborough 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 Northampton RFC in the East Midlands.

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 27 May.

While there Anderson and Finborough U12s 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.

“It means a lot to play the tournament with Finborough because we are all really close friends at school and we love playing rugby together,” said Anderson, 12.

“I love being able tackle people because it stops them scoring and having really good defence is important in a team.

“I also really enjoy having the ball and running with it. It means everything for us to win it and have the right the go to Twickenham in a few weeks.

“It is the perfect end to our season that we get to do that and we can’t wait to go.”

Finborough topped their group in the morning’s pool stage and went on to beat Olney RFC in a thrilling decider to win the U12s tournament in great style.

The tournament was organised by Northampton Saints and saw Finborough as one of more than 20 teams that took part in the festival which consisted of a remarkable 58 matches in total.

Saints flanker Lewis Ludlam joined some of the participating teams in doing a lap of the Franklin’s Gardens pitch at half-time of Saints’ victory over Harlequins and he spoke about the importance of enjoyment in grassroots rugby.

“These guys have amazing opportunities when they play junior rugby now,” he said.

“They have the chance to do a lap of the pitch at Franklin’s Gardens and some of them are lucky enough to go to the Aviva Premiership Rugby final in May.

“As long as they are enjoying their rugby and loving the game then that is the main thing.

“It is a big step moving up the age groups and so the teams that adjust to the physicality and the contact side of things will do well but it is all about having fun at the moment.”

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.