THE Aviva Premiership final may be eight months away but Taunton Rugby Club under-12s starlet Barney Dietz admits he will be counting down the days after booking his spot at Twickenham with victory in the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup.

Launched during the 2008-09 season, the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup is the first national grassroots tournament officiated by Premiership Rugby and run in conjunction with all 12 clubs.

Over 7,000 children will take participate in the competition this season as they go in search of a spot in the ‘Parade of Champions’ during half-time of the Aviva Premiership Grand Final.

And Dietz made sure to put his name down on the guest list, as he and his under-12s side strutted their stuff on Sunday as Exeter Chiefs hosted the best local junior teams at Exeter Saracens Rugby Club.

Defending champions Taunton went unbeaten throughout the group stages – scoring an astonishing 21 tries in four games – before defeating Withycombe in the Cup final, and Dietz insisted he could not be prouder.

“It’s amazing to win in the final again and go to Twickenham,” said the Taunton School student. “I cannot wait. We have a really strong team and together we can go on and progress further.

“The tournament has been really exciting to play in, we have played really well as a club so hopefully we can go on and win it.

“It is amazing that the Exeter Chiefs are here, it’s anyone’s dream to have professional players coming over and watching you play. Last year I was really lucky to meet them and to meet them again is great.

“I love contact sports because I use to wrestle with my brothers a lot, so my dad got me into playing rugby. As soon as I started playing, I loved it.”

The under-12s were not the only Taunton side in action as the under-11s also took to the field in Exeter, winning two of their four pool games.

Exeter Chiefs were out in force to support the day, with nine of their players – including Max Bodilly and Sam Skinner, both of whom made their Aviva Premiership Rugby debuts last season – casting an eye over proceedings.

And Skinner, who watched his boyhood side Topsham progress through the group stages before going out in the semi-finals, believes he saw several players with huge potential.

“When I was young and playing for Topsham I used to love coming to these tournaments,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for all these kids to enjoy playing rugby against new teams, and give it their best on the pitch.

“Days like this make rugby really fun, which is the most important thing. It is all very relaxed, not too stressful, and you can see how much the kids are enjoying it.”

Land Rover is a proud supporter of grassroots rugby and a partner of the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup for nearly a decade.

Land Rover’s ‘We Deal In Real’ campaign aims to champion grassroots rugby on the global stage during Rugby World Cup 2015.

Follow @Land RoverRugby #WeDealInReal