England rugby great Jason Leonard attends school tournament hosted by QMUL

Rugby World Cup winner Jason Leonard paid a visit to Queen Mary RFC's Tower Hamlets Schools Tag Tournament which was set up to encourage school kids across the borough to play rugby. Leonard, who is now president of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and England's most capped test rugby player, gave his support to the initiative which brought together 10 schools and more than 100 children on Friday October 23 at East London RFC in West Ham. QMRFC's Tower Hamlets Schools Tag Tournament was the culmination of a project held during the past month in which 12 QMRFC volunteers delivered tag rugby lessons to schools in the borough, reaching 300 kids in total. This was made possible thanks to funding from the QMUL Annual Fund. The event featured a round robin tournament, specialist training from RFU coaches and a QMUL exhibition match, and was part of the RFU's Festival of Rugby 2015 which is encouraging people to participate in the game. Jason Leonard said: "Today's Tag Rugby Tournament really shows how the Festival of Rugby 2015 has inspired people to put on events in cities across the country, often linking in with local rugby clubs, bringing people together to create a really fun and enjoyable atmosphere. "Festival of Rugby 2015 has really helped to bring a sense of excitement and celebration to the country, with more people able to get involved with rugby for the first time.