Three young rugby teams secured their place on the Land Rover Parade of Champions at the Sale Sharks Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup, hosted at Manchester RFC.

The Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup is a nationwide rugby festival for under 11 and under 12 teams. It offers a great opportunity for young rugby players to come together in a tournament to help them develop their skills and last weekend was no different.

The under 12 festival was a fantastic spectacle for those in attendance, with the impressive Waterloo RUFC and Lymm RFC teams keeping their composure to be selected to represent Sale Sharks at the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final in May.

In the under 11 festival, Stockport RUFC were triumphant over Warrington for the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup, whilst Bowdon defeated Vale of Lune to become the Shield Winners.

In addition, the Land Rover Spirit of Rugby Award, which goes to a player who demonstrated the values of rugby, was given to Oscar McCormack from Bowdon RUFC U11s.

"The Sale Sharks Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup continues to get better and better. It was fantastic to see participation at an all-time high with the support from Land Rover proving key," commented Jonny Acheson, Community Manager.

Participating players at the festival also had the opportunity to meet Sale Sharks player Dan Baines and team-mates, who took time out of their schedule to watch the young teams as well as offer some coaching tips between games.

"It was fantastic to get down to the festival today and see all of the young players enjoying it all. I remember playing in similar tournaments when I was younger and they were great days that were key to my development in the game," said Baines.