Nando's final

Nandos Cup Final victory

Teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship (and large platters of deep-fried chicken and chips).

These were the core values stressed by the organisers of the Nandos Cup – and they were certainly on show in the final on Friday night in front of thousands of fans at Ashton Gate (sadly for some not the chicken and chips - yet).

The game was played at half-time of the Bristol-Gloucester Premiership match – and provided a feast of entertainment for the home crowd which was in need of cheering up.

We had agreed with our opponents Winscombe to play every member of our squads which meant a mass change at the halfway mark of the 10-minute game. And the whole match was played by both teams in the spirit the organisers will have been pleased with.

All that said, with a deep-fried feast and prestigious cup at stake both teams went at it with a hunger rarely seen on a rugby pitch.

They say that you can tell when a team is on its game by the nature of its defence. And boy did feathers fly! There were some brave and big tackles all over the park, with notable crunchers from Owen, Elliot and Ollie. (On which note it was good to see Hugo on the touchline recovering from being injured in a tackle during the group games last week.)

We weren’t counting our chickens by any means, but there was no way that cup was going anywhere but the Clifton clubhouse.

And there was little surprise that after a tense opening 120 seconds the deadlock was broken by a rampaging Ryley, who barrelled his way through several tackles to score as though he was going for the last drumstick on the plate.

With the taste of victory on our lips, we went on to score further tries through Dom and Sam Read to win the game 15-0.

Dom’s was a powerful surge through the centre of their defensive line before accelerating away to score in front of our by now delirious parents (that might have been the beer).

Sam’s try was a true collective effort with the ball going along the line to create an overlap which he converted with impressive speed.

With the Gloucester and Bristol players coming back onto the pitch the final whistle went and we had to race back to the stands.

The Nandos chicken supreme moment, so to speak, came when the boys received their trophy and got the chance to pose with the big bird itself.

Great memories for us all. Well done, boys. A real feather in our caps. For once we came top of the pecking order. That’s all folks.

Hamish