THE Rugby World Cup came to Penryn on Easter Sunday and with the the sun shining 20 teams contested a superb day for rugby and the Borough.

With touring side Kingsclere, Los Troncos from Chile, and a rather weird sounding team who hail from the far west and who brought class to the competition it all added up to a wonderful day.

Penryn Sevens, in its 18th consecutive year, is intended as a fun day at the end of the season, and the names of some of the teams more than lived up to that. To name but a few, Kensa and Kensa Colts, Dog Pound Crew, Aqua Rod, Rockhoppers, Goats and Iraq.

The 20 teams were divided in to four pools of five, to ensure that each entrant was guaranteed at least four games. The winner of each pool went forward to the knock out semi finals, with the two losing semi finalists contesting the plate (third place) and the two winners fighting it out for first place.

In the pools Iraq Rugby, Dog Pound Crew A, Kensa and Kensa Colts, topped the four leagues, so Kensa played Kensa Colts in one semi-final with Iraq and Dog Pound playing the second. Kensa were too strong for their younger brethren in their contest whilst Iraq (from west Cornwall) overcame Dog Pound (Penrynish).

In the plate competition Dog Pound beat Kensa Colts, who very sportingly played three games one after the other to ensure continuity, whilst the West team were too good for Kensa.

All in all it was a good day for Rugby, and an excellent day for Borough. It was very encouraging to see so many young people with rugby balls in their hands, not just the 200 players who took part in the competion, but very young children all aspiring to be Jonny Wilkinsons, and many of them wearing Penryn shirts, and all hopefully future Borough players.

St Austell Brewery sponsored the tournament, hence the name Penryn Tribute Sevens, and the club is grateful to them for their support. But their were other sponsors around, Fryers of Penryn entered the two Kensa teams and, along with many other companies, helped to sponsor Los Troncos from Chile. The Kensa Colts were made up entirely of under 19's from around the county, except for two guest players from Los Troncos. It was a great pity that one of their teams did not qualify for the finals.

The club is grateful to those CRRS referees who helped out, to each and every competitor and their organisers, to St Austell Brewery, but also all those loyal club members who so willingly gave their time to ensure a highly successful day, especially those people who worked tirelessly in the bars, the burger stall and the kitchen, in order to provide sustenance to the large number of people who came not only to see the rugby but to be part of Penryn's tribute to England's World Cup Winners.

Penryn RFC chairman, Ken Plummer, said: "It was a fantastic day for Penryn, with well over 4,000 supporters, and I am absolutely delighted. To have had 20 teams competing in our tournament and to be able host the William Webb Ellis Trophy on its official tour made sure the day was a huge success.

"Also, we couldn't have wished for better sponsors - St Austell Brewery's support was invaluable and a key part of the tournament."