In previous years there has always been some level of controversy with young, fit and talented teams taking part, playing excellent rugby and consequently ruining everyone else's perceptions that, at our age and weight, we can still play the game.

This year however, the organisers operated a seeding system, and sure enough, the Leeds Lardies were placed in Pool D, together with Arabian Knights (Saracens Fans), Flatulent Fairies (London Irish), Pasty Eaters (Bristol), Drunken Wasps (erm, Wasps), and The Wobblers (Worcester).

Playing on the show stadium, and the honour of kicking off the whole tournament fell to the Fairies and the Lardies, and thus before the assembled masses the newly improved and updated Yorkshire Haka, or Yaka, was performed. This seemed to set the tone for the game, since everyone couldn't stop grinning as they played the game.

Someone with good journalistic skills would, at this point, tell you the score of the game, a description of the ebb and flow, and also give you the scorers names and ages. I remember none of that. But the Lardies won the game, and we were off to a flyer.

Second up were Worcester, and they were a different proposition - too many salad eaters on their side led to two contrasting outcomes: 1. they won the match, and 2. three of their team were broken by ferocious tacking from our more enthusiastic team members. Happily no long term damage was done, but we were now looking for a convincing win against Bristol to keep the momentum going.

Now unlike the Premiership team of the same name, the Fat Blokes Bristol side don't really like to play too hard - it interferes with the cider drinking. Consequently they go about the match in a more comedic way, and as a result hadn't scored at all up to this point. However for some reason, the Lardies game was the one targetted by all concerned to make a go of it, so besides all the usual silly shennanigans of line dancing at lineouts and 150-man rolling mauls, they managed to get within a score of beating us - only finally losing out when the referee, having picked up the ball and sent the entire Lardies team off in the process, sprinted downfield and dropped the ball over the line, sending himself off for the offence. Result a narrow win for Lardies.

Theere then followed what was arguably our best rugby performance, when we turned the Drunken Wasps over to a substantial score, Yours Truly scoring a superb scrum-half's try by harrying the opposite 9 and diving on the ball to touch down, and also making the telling pass for at least three other scores by exploiting the gaps and drawing players before releasing the outside backs - if only he had some pace, he'd be an awesome player!!!

This performance by the team got Mongo a little over excited, since he asked to do the team talk for the final game in the pool - the Saracens. "I honestly believe you guys can beat them" were perhaps the printable portion of that particular team talk. And indeed a good first half performance saw us in touch, with two tries apiece at the break. Then however, the Sarries put on their ‘A' team - some of whom subsequently turned out for the eventual tournament winners Old Herpeans (cue mutterings of "ringers" and "not in the spirit of the tournament", although it later transpired that these guys had always been part of the Sarries teams going back to the Henley days, they just happened to be a bit good and a bit fit this year) - and with these guys there was no messing around, and we eventually were beaten quite handsomely.

So that was that. Or so we thought.. There then came the awful realisation that while Saracens were guaranteed a place in the semis, the Lardies could also be there. Now with the bar beckoning and the old bones creaking, this seemed like a game too far, so a bit of horse trading with the Drunken Wasps, it was agreed that the Worcester Wobblers - whom they were to face in the final match of the whole pool - would win the game by the four tries that they needed to ensure Leeds came respectably third in the pool. Good enough for self respect, but not so's we'd have to play again. So that was that, the rugby over for another day.

As ever, a huge thank you to all at Reading Abbey for their organisation and the use of their facilities, and the Fairies, particularly Eek and Cheffy for the hard work that I know goes in to each and every gathering each year. We'll be back again next year!

After the usual round of presentations, we retired to the kebab stall for our tea, and the bar for the liquid refreshment. The results of which, is the subject of a completely different article....

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