Spoon over came St. Mary’s College and then the Junior Irish Exiles in the pool stages to then face Hove in the quarter final. The Spoon team who were playing together for the first time were improving with every game and as a result dispatched Hove without too much trouble, knowing that they would next face, the all Fijian Kaiviti Crusaders team that contained three full internationals including Gloucester’s Akapusi Qera and Leicester’s Seru Rabine.

Despite being banned from all rugby, Rabine had been cleared to play and set his stall out from the start with a big smash on prop Hersey. Not to be out done and moments later, young talent Cooper hit Rabine forcing him to knock the ball on and with resulting possession, Spoon scored to take the lead. This was a lead that the charity side maintained until the final whistle taking them through to the final.

In the final Spoon faced the Ruck U Spartans who managed by Will Carling’s brother had a wealth of U18s international talent with many of their players at Premiership Academies. In their semi final the Spartans demolished a strong and highly fancied British Army side playing some of the best sevens rugby of the day.

The first minutes of the final were an edgy affair but it was Spoon that took the lead through an unconverted  try from Jo Vakalala (British Army). Following a long delay resulting from a crunching tackle from Brown, one of the Crusaders was taken off to hospital with a suspected knee ligament injury. The delay didn’t phase Spoon and indeed it was they who scored next, extending their lead with a touch down (unconverted) from Hersey.

The second half saw the Spoon team under a great deal of pressure and tired legs accounted for conceding two tries to the man of the tournament Worcester Academy’s Stu Mackay, one of which was converted giving the Spartans the lead with just one minute to go. From the resulting re- start Spoon retrieved the ball and maintaining possession attacked down the left wing with a sweeping move that culminated in a try for winger Swanny (British Army) which unconverted left the final score at 15-12 to Spoon.

Wooden Spoon player/ manager, Jai Purewal said, ‘we really cannot believe that we have won, it’s a great result for the boys who played for each other and stuck to the task. It’s a fantastic tournament with some massive sides attending and to come out on top is a significant boost for raising the Wooden Spoon profile within the game as we continue to support disadvantaged children throughout the UK and Ireland.’