YOUNG rugby players from Falmouth have said becoming the first foreign team to win a tournament in Spain was a “proud honour”.

The Under 12s side from Falmouth Rugby Club travelled out to Barcelona for a tour of the city which included taking part in the Tarragona Festival.

They became the first team from outside of Spain to participate in the competition and progressed through unbeaten and lifting the trophy at the end after defeating Barcelona.

Squad members celebrated their success at the Greenbank Hotel at a function set up to also thank people and organisations who donated money towards their trip.

The evening included cheese and wine being served to guests and a video highlights package of the tour being screened.

Speaking to the Packet, William Becconsall said: “It was great to be the first international team to take part in the competition and winning the festival made us all feel proud.

“We knew going out there that rugby is not the biggest sport in the country, but the standard was pretty good still and there were two or three players who were impressive.

“I think where we edged it though was having a bit more on field experience and we had a few moves to switch play around which the Spanish teams could not counter.”

Falmouth Packet:

The team after their line dancing fundraising event with the Misty Mountain dancers

During the visit to Barcelona, the boys had the chance to visit the big tourist attractions of the city including the Nou Camp, Olympic Stadium and the Sagrada Familia.

Hooker Brent Anderson said: “It was a great experience to go out and get the chance to play rugby in a different country.

“We got to look around at a lot of the sites in Barcelona too, especially the Nou Camp which was huge.”

Focus has now switched for the team towards another tour next year with Portugal or Ireland possible destinations.

Utility back Sam Walker said the team are looking forward to going abroad together again.

“Going out to Spain was really fun,” Walker said.

“The fundraising we did for this one was really good and we did things like a car wash and went line dancing, which we raised a lot of money from and learnt a few try scoring celebration moves from.

“I know we’re looking at going on tour again next year to either Portugal or Ireland, but I think after winning the festival, we should go to New Zealand!”

Members of the team would like to thank staff at the Greenbank Hotel for offering their venue, wine and cheese for free for their event.