Amersham & Chiltern Rugby Club under-11s may have missed out on appearing at the Aviva Premiership Final at Twickenham, but starlet Leo Wilson insists he experienced a memorable weekend at a festival organised by Saracens.

Wilson and his team mates had been hoping to head to Twickenham on May 27 to meet an England 2003 Rugby World Cup winner and join in a Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup Parade at half-time – but it wasn’t to be despite a strong performance at the rugby festival.

Wilson and his team received the opportunity after taking part in the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup – a nationwide series for U11 and U12 teams – at the weekend at Mill Hill Rugby Club.

The tournament was organised by Saracens and saw Amersham and Chiltern as one of more than 30 teams took part in the festival.

“Sometimes you need big players and sometimes you need quick people and we just fell a little short in both areas,” said 10-year-old Wilson.

“I came here last year and it was raining so much which hurt us, but this year we played better rugby and I am very proud of the whole team because we worked very hard to get here.

“I like that it’s not that competitive, everyone just has a laugh and its more about having fun.

“That is what the tournament is about: playing good rugby and having fun, which is what we did.”

The Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup has seen nearly 68,000 children take part to date, from all over the country, providing opportunities for U11 and U12 players to play, develop and excel in the game.

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.

The festivals around the country celebrate rugby’s traditional core values of team work, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship, rewarding players conduct, side-line conduct and game play.

And Saracens took a break from Premiership Rugby action on Saturday to support the event at Mill Hill, with academy starlet Nick Isiekwe highlighting the importance of junior rugby in the club’s future success.

“It’s great to have a competitive but fun day, allowing kids to express themselves because as a kid you want to run around and have fun,” the 18-year-old second row said.

“The enthusiasm from the coaches is great, really encouraging them to have fun, which is the main thing: rugby is about having fun, enjoying yourself and being with friends, and this kind of environment is great for that.

“It is good for the young guys to get the chance to play somewhere like this and I am very impressed with how good the skills were. These players are the future.

“You could see on and off the kids they were all having fun. The atmosphere was really positive and it will only help all these guys going forward.”

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.