The festival at Esher was a development festival, where the emphasis was on enjoyment for all, and creating a friendly environment for players to acclimatise to competitive rugby. Both Heath teams did brilliantly well, with stand-out performances from many players enjoying a festival for the very first time. The teams played 8 matches in total, and highlights included beating Esher in a closely fought match 8 tries to 7, as well as Old Cranleighans 6-5. They also drew against Old Wimbledonians and Weybridge, with an impressive hat trick of tries from Oliver Becker. Both teams were happy, but exhausted by the end of the day - and all the players can’t wait for their next festival experience.

Brighton RFC organised two separate tournaments - Red and Blue. A fantastic community rugby atmosphere, again with a focus on fun and enjoyment for as many players as possible. The Blue Heath team played matches against Hove, Brighton and Heathfield, but narrowly lost each of their games by a single try. Despite the results, there was notable improvement throughout the day with players running straight, passing well and tagging with determination. The performance of the day had to be against Heathfield, where Heath came back from 5-1 down at half-time – to just lose out 7-6.

The Red Heath team did amazingly well, winning two of their group games against Hove and Chichester, and drawing 7-7 against a very strong Brighton team. This meant they came top of their group, so qualified to play Horsham in a tightly fought 1st place play-off – which Heath managed to win 8 tries to 5! In the end the festival championship, which combined results across both pools, was won by Horsham – but all players were delighted to walk away with medals and a pool winner’s trophy.