HAVING won the Bude Area Schools Tag Rugby Tournament in February, Marhamchurch Primary School qualified for the East of Cornwall Finals.

The squad of 12 students travelled to St Austell Rugby Club on Friday, April 15, to compete in the tournament with 32 schools from the eastern half of the county.

With only one club rugby player on their team, the Marhamchurch children knew it was going to be a tough day with some strong opposition. However, the team rose to the occasion and played to their strengths for the duration of the tournament; they won every match that they played from the group stages right through to the final.

Julie Ponting, the Cornwall School Games organiser, presented the team with the winner’s trophy and ’Choughy’ the School Games mascot came to congratulate them for their success. Team coach, Louise Paton said: "This is a great achievement for a small school like ours — we’ve got a very talented group of year six children at the moment who have worked together brilliantly as a team."

The next round of the competition is at the Cornwall School Games in Penzance in July where they’ll meet teams from all over the county.