SEDBERGH School claimed the winners’ trophy for the fifth time in 21 years at the Sedbergh 10s rugby festival while Lincolnshire's Stamford School took the Plate.

SSFC logged some impressive score lines: 29-14 against Millfield School in the final, 29-28 v QEGS Wakefield, which captain Harry Laidler said they had to ‘dig deep’ for, and 48-0 against Brighton College, having beaten KES Bath 36 – 5 in the morning.

Sedbergh’s No. 10 Josh Hodge came away with the Player of the Tournament award, voted for by visiting coaches. Hodge, 17, from Lancaster, said: “This was my first 10s and I’m only just back from injury. I was saving myself for this. It was fantastic to play against such a variety of talent and to have the opportunity to get used to different styles of playing, such as the way the South Africans play.”

Harry Laidler, from Hong Kong, captain of SSFC 10s team, said: “This is a fantastic end to the season and, for many of us, the best way possible to end our days playing schoolboy rugby on Buskholme. We wanted to go out with a bang and to show what it means to pull on the brown jersey of SSFC.”

Sixteen teams from around the UK and as far away as South Africa came to compete at Sedbergh this weekend. Graham Marrs MBE, has been commentating at the Sedbergh 10s for more than 10 years. He said: “Because of the wide range of schools competing, this festival broadens the players’ horizons; it gives them the opportunity to get used to different styles and paces.”

Captain James Jenkins, of the Yorkshire Regiment, an old boy of RGS High Wycombe, who were defending the title this year, has played at the festival in previous years. “It’s been great to come back and to see my old school here and to see my former coach," he said.

Gareth Thomas, England RFU Match Official Development Manager, said: “We feel lucky to be invited to this fantastic festival every each. It offers us the opportunity to coach and train using video footage. We brought 12 officials to this event and for many, it is a stepping stone to putting them into our talent programme. They range in ages, from 18 to 29 and come from all over the UK and on this occasion we have a female official who’s been here for the last four festivals. We’ve also been working with James Gray, at Sedbergh, who is only 14 and is pursuing a career with us. The fitness that is required for match officials is very intense – for example, today, our top official has run 21km and, on one pitch, made a speed of 27 mph.”