A THOUSAND supporters, a band and a choir will travel to the home of English rugby tomorrow to cheer on a North-East school as it battles for national honours.

For the second year running, Barnard Castle School in County Durham is competing at Twickenham in the final of the Daily Mail Cup, a national rugby tournament for schools.

The school has laid on six coaches to the event and hundreds more supporters are making the journey by car.

They will be accompanied by the school jazz band and choir, who will be performing in the Twickenham car park before the match.

The Barnard Castle team will face Colston's Collegiate, from Bristol, who have won the competition six times. When the two sides clashed at the beginning of the season Barnard Castle lost 31-0 but team captain, 18-year-old flanker Jim Carver, from Heighington, does not believe the final will be a walkover.

He said: "They were a well drilled side and we hadn't much time to practise then. We are all feeling much more positive about Saturday now and 11 of the lads played in last year's final, which will be to our advantage."

Sadly, Barnard Castle will be without key player Mathew Tait. He is with the England U19s at the world championships in Durban, South Africa, where he scored a try in a win against Georgia.

Rugby master Martin Pepper said: "They have worked extremely hard and it has been very difficult for me to choose the team from the squad.

"Clearly we are the underdogs, but Colston's haven't been in the competition for the past three years. It should be a great atmosphere and we are all looking forward to it."

Last year, Barnard Castle lost by a single point in the final to Oakham School from Leicester.