Bishops Stortford is the first club to fully fund the incoming tours of disadvantaged children to the UK to play rugby. The festival has been designed not to be competitive and all the teams entered have had strict instructions that the whole essence of the weekend is to provide opportunities to the lads that would not always get a game. West of Scotland will be coming down from Glasgow as well as teams from the South East to provide a real carnival atmosphere. To visit the official website for the BSRFC International Rugby Featival, please click here

The team from Botswana comprises children from the Thamelo Project. This is an orphanage that caters for vulnerable and orphaned children whose parents are either unable to care for them or have died due to illness/Aids. It is situated close to the residence of David Gilbert, the President of the Botswana Rugby Union. David provides fresh food for the children as the project has no refrigeration facilities. The Botswana RU has been supporting the orphanage with funds and organises trips for the boys and girls including taking them to see the National Rugby sides play. The Union also provides regular coaching sessions for all the children to support the staff and give the children a sense of belonging and fun in their lives. 

The Tiger Cubs are boys brought together from four disadvantaged communities from across Eastern India, Manipur, Kolfata, Puspendu and Bhubaneswar. The link that brings them together is the Jungle Crows rugby club and the clubs coaches Sanjay and Tudu who original toured the UK to participate in the touraid U14 Cup in 2007 and returned home victorious. Although Manipur is very remote from the rest of India the people are quite heavily influenced by western culture being exposed to western music and brands. The Bhubaneswar Boys are perhaps the quietest and most reserved of the boys all part of tribal villages. Although they all go to school together they come from remote villages that have no electricity and few mod cons. Four of the boys are from the NGO Ashalayam which gives a home to street children. These boys are from very tough backgrounds and have often lived alone on the streets for much of their life. All of the children come from disadvantaged backgrounds though now have hope through the organisations which care for them.

Over the next few days we will be reporting on their stay in the UK and how they are enjoying integrating with a new culture as well as how they perform in the rugby tournament.

Image: The perils of training for the team from India, the wildlife on the pitch!