PENARTH Under-16 rugby team travelled to Quimper, Brittany, to represent their town and country in the Tournoi Cornouaille for the first time over the Easter weekend.

In a tournament format that was new to all, playing in a number of 20 minute matches, the boys played superbly in their last competitive outing as a squad this season before moving onto youth rugby.

The preparations had gone well leading up to the tournament in France, with some rousing team bonding sessions and singing, led by Tomo and Barbarian Leach keeping all the troops in check.

The boys got acclimatised to their surroundings with some serious carbo-loading at a local hostelry on the Friday night in preparation for the weekends tournament.

Penarth were combined with Cornouaille, the competition hosts, the Belgium national Under-15s and Paris Neuilly in a round-robin tournament.

With only 20 minutes per game in 10 minute halves it was very important to take every scoring opportunity. Penarth started well against Cornouaille, winning by 6-3 with two penalties kicked by Ben Jones.

The team momentum was kept going by some keen tackling and timely passing by both backs and forwards to ease home 12-0 against Paris Neuilly, then in the final group game beating the Belgian Under-15 national team by 3-0.

All games were very low scoring but Penarth came through unscathed to win their group and gain a place in the quarter-finals the following day. The interspersed feeding of tangerines and Jaffa cakes from Marcia’s tuck shop paid dividends.

The team and supporters were invited to a formal function on the Saturday night and as a mark of “respect” the lads were pelted with wet napkins by all the foreign teams. The boys responded by combining with the team from Nant Conwy North Wales with a rendition of the Welsh National Anthem and Calon Lan to silence the foreign teams who could not respond with any worthwhile harmonies.

Jack and Ben led the team in a rendition I’m too sexy for my shirt which the French locals seemed to enjoy, while a world record of Sunshine Mountain was attempted and over a 1,000 people were soon on their seats singing a song of which they knew no words, combined with some bar diving antics by Declan, Ceri and Dai.

Sunday saw the dawn of the quarter-final stage – which was to be played on with it after hours of rain a soggy, slippery surface after hours of rain for all to endure.

Penarth were drawn against the Belgian National Under-16s who were keen favourites. After controlling play for much of the game it went to the wire and whoever made the first mistake could easily lose the match.

Alas, Penarth were under pressure on their own try line and trying to clear, Belgium gathered, spread the ball wide to their dangerous winger, who outpaced the defence to score out wide. This proved to be the only score of the match placing Penarth out of the competition for any major honours.

There was a conciliation match to play before the main final, but given the state of the pitches that were becoming dangerous due to the ankle-deep mud the teams decided to play a penalty kick tournament.

Players put themselves forward and after a few misses, mainly by their recognised kickers, it was down to Dan, Tomo, Hugh and Liam to see the team through to victory and a creditable fifth place overall.

Penarth committed themselves superbly, on and off the pitch and it was with some satisfaction that the final was won by the Belgian team that Penarth lost to and the only team to score a try against them over the whole weekend. The Penarth coaches made a quick exit before the customary act of dumping their respective coaches in the mud took place.

Some excellent efforts were shown throughout Sunday night with a number of rugby legends turning up to honour the boys after their successful tour, namely Shane Byrne of Ireland, Mervyn Davies of Wales, Jean Pierre Rives of France and Erika Roe of England.

The boys combined well with the Nant Conwy team over a few drinks, including a couple of special birthday drinks for Henry, and pasta to bring the curtain down on a very successful tour and more importantly 10 years of playing rugby together and luckily the pub ceiling managed to withstand the punishment given to it.

In preparation for their Maths GCSE the boys counted down from eight to one to assist the proceedings. The impromptu Kangaroo Court session took place on the coach en route to the ferry and all players were suitably dealt with by judge Grinder Anderton, assisted by juror one, two and detective Vin Rouge. All tour newbies acquitted themselves well in their chosen song, apart from Dave B, who will need to practice for a later date.

Thanks must go to all the organisation that Declan completed leading up to the tour and ensuring that it occurred, as well as all the other help and guidance given by other parents involved in the tour organisation and sponsorship generation.

Thanks to all sponsors for this season, Cabot, PDS Bulk Liquids, South Wales Wood Recycling, Dave Baker State Agents, Pro Health and Nutrition and Cornerswell Carpets.