Smiles all round and a huge thank you to the people of Penzance from the Pirates under 14s rugby team who recently raised over £1,000 by bag packing at Morrison’s Supermarket, Penzance.

Last year, the team raised over £10,000 to attend the prestigious Cork International Rugby Festival and returned home victorious having beaten London Wasps in the final.

As an international trophy holding team, the Pirates under 14s have automatically been pre-selected to attend the 2010 Portugal International Rugby Festival in Lisbon in March next year, which has come as a complete surprise. Team manager, Austyn Hallworth, commented:

“This invitation came straight out of the blue and was therefore totally unexpected. Due to the huge cost of international touring we had not expected to tour two years in a row! However, this is a tremendous opportunity for the boys to play top level European rugby and therefore we decided that we would just have to try and raise another £10,000 in only four months which is proving very difficult in the present economic climate. We are so grateful to the management of Morrison’s for their help in organising this event and to the incredible generosity from the people of Penzance.”

Mr. Hallworth asks that anyone who would like to help these talented boys to complete their daunting task or to donate an auction prize, please contact Austyn@chh.co.uk or phone 07802781841.

The Pirates under 14s team is sponsored by The Turks Head Restaurant, Penzance.