Barbarians defeated but future looks bright for under-16 rugby (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Barbarians defeated but future looks bright for under-16 rugby

2:06pm Saturday 6th March 2010 in

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WESTMORLAND Barbarians launched their new team against a strong Sedbergh select XI side, but their inaugural match did not quite go to plan.

The Barbarians, a team of under-16 South Lakeland rugby players, went down 24-0 at Ambleside Rugby Club in a fixture which will be played annually as The Westmorland Challenge Cup.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron kicked off the match which saw some free-flowing rugby as Sedbergh came prepared.

Chris Martucci, who along with Andy Brown, started the club, was proud of the first performance.

He said: “The lads played well at the weekend against Sedbergh - the Rolls Royce of schooboy rugby - and we will continue to support and encourage them.

“They tackled to the death and it was a great contest. At half-time it was 19-0 but they only added another five after the break.”

The Barbarians have only been training together for six weeks but put in a hard-fought display and a good exhibition of tackling which put the visitors on the back foot for long passages of play.

Barbarians president Grant Weatherstone, a former Barbarian himself, presented the first Westmorland Challenge Cup to the Sedbergh captain.

Martucci said the creation of the Westmorland Barbarians has reignited passion for rugby in the area.

He added: “We train at Ambleside on Tuesday nights and will play on either Saturday or Sundays.

We have to thank Ambleside RUFC for the use of the facilities and hopefully we will rekindle the game here. We have had a few interested parties asking what we specifically do and there is a lot of interest in the game.”

We still have several fixtures left before the end of April and we are hoping to enter the Cumbria under 16 league next season.