YOUNG rugby players have won a national competition at Twickenham to bring the trophy back to North Yorkshire.

The squad from Allertonshire School, Northallerton, won the Rugby Football Union HSBC Rugby Festivals Finals.

The team of 14 youngsters played in front of 56,000 fans at Twickenham to be named the national year nine champions.

The win came as although the team’s final opponents Farlingaye High School, in Suffolk, won they were later disqualified.

The competition was for schools which had not entered any other competitions and the team from the Suffolk school had.

Eddie Myers, an Allertonshire PE teacher, said: "It was an amazing experience to be driven right up to the gates of Twickenham.

"Once there the boys were presented with a brand new kit and given a pep talk by ex-England captain Jason Robinson.

"He explained about what it meant to him to play at Twickenham, and what a special occasion it was going to be for them "It was an amazing achievement and a wonderful weekend. But to then find out that we had won – even by default – was the icing on the cake."

He also paid tribute to the Rugby Football Union’s regional development officer, Duncan Burgess, who is based in Thirsk, for helping out.

The Northallerton team, aged between 13-14-years, beat teams from the South West, South London and the mid-west of England.

The final was played at half-time of the annual Army v Navy Babcock Trophy match on May 2 and the Northallerton team lost 15-0 but won by default..

Over the season, almost 45,000 youngsters and 3,500 teachers took part in the 448 different leagues and festivals that make up the competition.