After sharing the Twickenham turf with Lions Owen Farrell and George North, Stockport head coach Nick Brown admits his U11 side will be forever reliving their Aviva Premiership Final debut.
As Saracens and Northampton Saints battled it out for Aviva Premiership glory in Saturday’s final, Stockport under-11s also descended on Rugby HQ.
And during half-time Brown’s youngsters got their moment in the spotlight in front of the sell-out 82,000 crowd as they took part in the Land Rover Cup Parade of Champions.
Their time to shine was reward for winning a Land Rover Cup festival held by Sale Sharks back in October, and Brown believes his team loved every minute of their experience of a lifetime.
“I think they all had butterflies before walking out and they were all very excited,” said Brown.
“But they are over the moon about it and they weren’t daunted about it at all.
“We train hard; probably harder than most local clubs and I always feel like I have to push them.
“But by coming down here and walking around Twickenham and seeing it and seeing professional players they will have that yearning to do it by themselves without me having to push them all the time.
“I definitely think this will help to keep kids in the game.
“I think they were buzzing with adrenaline when they came off and it’s something they will remember for a long, long time and hopefully they will be back playing out there one day.”
Not only did Stockport under-11s get to walk on the hallowed Twickenham turf but they also got to meet and hear from former World Cup winner and England captain Lewis Moody.
And Moody admits that he was just as impressed with Stockport under-11s as he was with the two teams going head to head for the Aviva Premiership crown.
“The Land Rover Cup is a fantastic event for inspiring young rugby players,” said Moody.
“Kids need to be inspired and if this is one way of inspiring kids into rugby then I think it’s brilliant.
“The chance to stand on the pitch, the hallowed turf, where their heroes have been – that’s a dream for any rugby player or fan.
“By having these kids come to Twickenham, seeing what it’s about and walking out in front of a bumper crowd, it might inspire them to progress further with their rugby.
“You never know… we might see a couple of them as future England stars in World Cups to come.”
Land Rover supports grassroots rugby and provides the opportunity for 7000 youngsters to take part in the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup.
