Reporter: Zoë Mathieson London Irish

The London Irish Community Department were delighted to put on another successful MasterClass over the October Half Term where 43 boys aged 8-15 learnt how to be their best from the best! The rugby course took place from Monday 23rd - Wednesday 25th October at Reading Blue Coat School, Sonning, where the main focus was on nurturing natural rugby talent and improving individual skills in a fun environment. One of the highlights of the camp was when London Irish players Nils Mordt and Michael Collins came to visit on the final afternoon.

The Community team were also joined by coaches from the British Army who helped to deliver the coaching sessions throughout the 3 day course. The Army coaches were encouraged to get involved after forging links with the club at the London Irish Residential Army MasterClass which took place at REME Aborfield last summer.

Throughout the camp the boys enjoyed various coaching sessions which focused on; passing, kicking, athletic development, rucking, tackling, mauling and team building! On the final day all MasterClassers were put to the test when they took the O2 Kick, Pass, Run Challenge. All three groups had a great time showing off their kicking, passing and running skills to each other and the coaches.

The camp was overcome with excitement when London Irish stars Nils Mordt and Michael Collins arrived. The inside centre and prop forward enjoyed watching the 'MasterClassers' in action before they were grilled in a friendly Q&A session. The guys then got to take part in the presentation ceremony handing out certificates and prizes for: Best Player, Coaches Player and Most Improved player in each group. All coaches agreed that the decisions were very hard to make!

Amongst the winners were:

• Charlie Stacey
• James Harding
• Tomas Bartlett
• Joe Gwyther
• James Parker
• Oliver Saunders
• Ben Pritchard
• Paul Sayers
• George Gisby

Nils and Michael were pleased to have been invited on the final day. They said "It's great to see so many children who are keen to develop their rugby skills. I'm positive what they've learnt this week will come in very useful out in the field. I hope they will continue to keep playing and learning."

Community Coach Ben Thurlow who's been overseeing the MasterClass all week had this to say about the event: "It's been fantastic having the Army here with all their fresh ideas coupled with our usual MasterClass format. Everyone has worked really hard throughout the past 3 days. I hope they've all enjoyed themselves and are ready to use all their new skills out on the field soon!"

As part of the course each participant also receives a free ticket to watch London Irish in action against Gloucester on Friday 10th November KO 8pm.