The school hosted a touch rugby tournament for U9 and U11 kids at their campus on Saadiyat Island this past Wednesday, with over 350 players taking part in 130 matches across two-and-a-half hours of competition.

Play began with the tightly-contested group stages, with the strongest teams advancing through to the knockouts.

The hosts walked away winners in their U9 final with the British School Al Kubairat. Sudden death was needed to decide the outcome as Ayden Critchley came through in the final moments to secure an exc-iting victory.

The U11 trophy, meanwhile, was claimed by Brighton College as they defeated Al Muna in an equally competitive final.

More than the end result though, the tournament was an opportunity to expose the children to touch rugby, with hundreds of supportive parents in attendance.

John Larkins, founder of UAE Touch, said: “To have 350-plus boys and girls aged between seven and 10 playing a touch rugby tournament at Cranleigh School on a Wednesday afternoon goes to show how far the sport has come in the last three years and we expect this number to grow to 450-plus for the next tournament on October 26.

“The day was a huge success for grassroots school sport in Abu Dhabi and having other community operations like the new HSBC Future Falcons Junior Golf programme running golf clinics alongside the main touch rugby tournament illustrates how supportive of junior sport both Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Cranleigh Abu Dhabi are.”