The Etihad Airways Curtain Raiser Cup

On Saturday the 6th of October for the first time the Southend mini section went to the Harlequins Eithad Cup tournaments as ONE club,complete with their brand new replica first team shirts.
 
Ben Thurlow at Quins did a great job in welcoming parents and children and whilst the older age groups played their matches the U7's had a coaching clinic and were joined by 2 first team Quins player's Danny Care(scrum half) who has played for England U19s,20s,21s and the full 7s side and Chris Brooke(hooker) who has played for England U21's and Saxons, the kids had a fantastic time and the Southend coaches picked up plenty of new tips.
 
The older ages played very well and loved the experience of playing on the Quins pitch and no doubt will be looking to reach the further stages next year now our coaching staff and teams and settling.
 
Quins kindly put on a special stage within the Eithad stand where we watched the Aussies fall and their "hate" of the English not help their cause.
 
The youngsters then had the fantastic experience of  being the "Guard of Honour" for the Bristol game where the Quins were victorious, completed with a lap of honour by all clubs.
 
It was a pleasure to see the kids have the time of their lives and for them to represent the club both on and off the field with impeccable behaviour both on and off the field
 
Those wanting to see shots of the day please use the following link;

http://fotograffic.fpic.co.uk/c1384138.html

Also avaliable is a short video clip of the under 7's perfoming their "Guard of Honour" use the following link to view;