SATURDAY, October 4th, was a very special day for Minehead Barbarians Rugby Football Club’s Under 11s because they set off for Twickenham, the home of England Rugby, to take part in a big rugby festival.

It was an early start, departing from West Somerset at seven o'clock in the morning, but even at that time the players and coaches were super excited to be able to go and have the chance to step out on the green turf where World Cups have been won - and lost.

What a day lay in store for these young Barbarians and they loved every minute of this extra special rugby day. With each of their games lasting only 10 minutes long, it was important that the Barbarians got off to a strong start.

Their opening game in the festival saw Minehead start positively with some fearsome tackling, strong running and support play which led to them scoring three good tries. The opposition also played well but at the end of the game it was Minehead Barbarians who came out the winners by three tries to two - a brilliant start for the youngsters from Minehead.

In the second game, however, they came up against a very strong side, who managed to score some well worked tries, and despite the efforts of the young Barbarians, they were unable to score. However, as is always the case with this team. they never threw in the towel and gave everything - everyone gave 100 per cent effort throughout.

This was a day to remember with all having a once in a lifetime opportunity to play at Twickenham - these are a very special team of players and have the support of a very special group of parents and siblings; the whole team were Barbarians of the day.