The inaugural London Irish Amateur International Girls Festival took place at Hazelwood on Sunday 29th April 2023. The festival consisted of a packed schedule of matches for U12-U18 age groups, with a total of 70+ teams from 30+ clubs attending. Thankfully the sun shone throughout the day and the festival was followed by a BBQ and DJ at the clubhouse.

London Irish U16s Girls Coach Simon Platt commented that “this first festival surpassed our expectations in terms of attendance, which is representative of the rapid growth of girls rugby around the country. Everyone seemed to enjoy the day and we’re delighted with the positive feedback we’ve received from visiting clubs”.

The festival took place the day after England’s Red Roses hosted a world record-breaking TikTok 6 Nations match against France at Twickenham, hosting 58,000+ fans, securing the 6 Nations trophy and saying farewell in style to Head Coach Simon Middleton.

Several of the London Irish U16 girls played their last youth rugby on Sunday. Two players, Rose Platt and Megan Fullam, have been offered places on the elite rugby programmes at Henley College and Hartpury College. We are very proud that their love of rugby started at London Irish Amateur and wish them all the best for their future careers in rugby. London Irish Amateur offers rugby for girls from U12-U18 and offers free taster sessions for new players interested in the sport.

The festival organising team, all of whom are volunteers at the club, worked extremely hard to stage the event. U16 Girls Head Coach Simon Platt was recognised for his contribution to the club. He was awarded both the Youth Rugby Volunteer of the Season and was also the first recipient of the Mark Griffiths Memorial Trophy, which was presented by Mark’s wife Zoe and son Barnaby.

With the dust starting to settle following this inaugural festival, the team are already turning their attention to the 2024 event and hope to announce further details shortly.

London Irish is extremely grateful for the support of both DocuWare Ltd. and Ancaster Group. DocuWare provides document management and workflow software to businesses across the globe. Ancaster Group is one of the largest and longest-established dealerships in London and the Home counties. We would urge you to consider both companies.

The festival also received significant support and guidance from Middlesex Rugby and Surrey Rugby, for which we are also very grateful.