JUNIOR stars from Bromyard are continuing to make waves in youth rugby thanks to their performance at this weekend’s Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup.

The Bromyard youngsters took to the pitch at an event hosted by Worcester Warriors at Sixways last Saturday with 40 teams strutting their stuff across an under-12 and under-11 festival.

In the under-11 competition Bromyard demonstrated plenty of effort and skill but fell just short of earning a trip to the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final on June 20.

That honour instead went to Shrewsbury, who will get the chance to meet a Land Rover rugby ambassador, join in a Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup Parade at half-time, plus find out who has won the Junior Land Rover Discovery of The Season award.

But despite missing out on a place at Twickenham, Bromyard’s female trio of Orlie Maclean (aged 11), Bella Yeoman (aged 10) and Bethany Chance (aged 10) were still proud of their team's performance.

Orlie said: “Rugby is always fun for us - it’s a great sport that we can enjoy as a team.”

Bella agreed and said: “We’ve been playing rugby since under-7s so we have grown up together. I’ve enjoyed playing together with other people who are good at rugby and trying to get the ball and score for my team.”

All three enjoyed watching the Rugby World Cup, with Bethany especially enjoying the Welsh team performance, she added: “My favourite player is Dan Biggar because he gets involved in the tackles, I like doing the same.”

Participating players at the festival also had the opportunity to meet Warriors summer signing Caleb Montgomery, who took time out of his schedule to watch the young teams as well as offer some coaching tips between games.

He commented on the importance of grassroots rugby, helping children provide developmental experience for young players to excel in a professionally run environment.

He said: “This isn’t far off from what I’m used to back in Ireland when I was a kid growing up, mucky pitches, small tournaments like this are important from the grass roots up."

He hailed the coaches and those who freely volunteer their time to give children the chance to enjoy the sport.

He added: “I still talk to my childhood coaches now.

"They are very important, they give up their own time to make sure kids have something to do on the weekend, then back on Monday night training, in the freezing cold, in the rain. It’s amazing.

“Anybody can play rugby no matter how big you are or how small you are, there is a position for you. It’s truly a team sport.”

Land Rover has heritage in rugby at all levels; from grassroots to elite, sharing and understanding the values at the heart of the game. Follow @LandRoverRugby.