Leonard Snr added: “It’s been a great Festival and the attitude and enthusiasm of everybody, from the kids playing to the coaches, organizers and the parents has been fantastic.

“Some of these boys and girls have been playing rugby for a while and others have just started but the enjoyment on their faces was the same. And what better setting for rugby than here at the school were it all started.”

Lancashire coach Andy Watt said: “The lads went fairly close last year when they got knocked out in the semi-final so to go one better is great. Defensively I have never seen anything as good.”

Eastern Counties manager Alan Brown said: “The boys played their hearts out and they did everything that was asked of them.  They should hold their heads up high because they were beaten by a very good team who deserved to win. But we’ll be back next year.”

North Midlands took the Plate after beating Yorkshire Reds 10-7 in the final, while Kent Rural edged out Gloucestershire 15-12 in the Bowl and Berkshire took the Shield with a 12-7 victory over Surrey Rural.

Cup

Final standings: 1 Lancashire, 2 Eastern Counties, 3 Middlesex, 4 East Midlands, 5 Leicestershire, 6 Hertfordshire, 7 Cheshire, 8 Buckinghamshire.

Final: Eastern Counties 5  Lancashire 10
3rd/4th place play-off: Middlesex 20  East Midlands 12
5th/6th place play-off: Hertfordshire 19 Leicestershire 24
7th/8th place play-off: Buckinghamshire 17  Cheshire 19
 
Semi-finals: Eastern Counties  14 Middlesex 10, East Midlands 5 Lancashire 10

Quarter-finals: Eastern Counties 22 Buckinghamshire 0, Hertfordshire 7 Middlesex 10, Cheshire 12 East Midlands 17, Leicestershire 0 Lancashire 12

Plate

Final standings: 1  North Midlands, 2 York Reds, 3 York Blues, 4 Sussex, 5 Essex, 6 Kent Metro, 7 Notts Lincs Derbys, 8 Staffordshire

Final: North Midlands 10 v Yorks Reds 7
3rd/4th place play-off: Sussex 5 v  Yorks Blues 22
5th/6th place play-off: Essex 0 v Kent Metro10
7th/8th place play-off: Staffordshire 5 v Notts, Lincs, Derbys 19

Semi-finals: Sussex 12 v North Midlands 28, Yorks Reds 15 v Yorks Blues 12

Quarter-finals: Sussex 17 Essex 15, North Midlands 7 Staffordshire 0, Kent Metro 5 Yorks Reds 26, Yorks Blues 25 Notts, Lincs, Derbys 21.

Bowl

Final standings: 1 Kent Rural, 2 Gloucestershire, 3 Surrey Metro, 4 Northumberland, 5 Dorset & Wiltshire, 6 Hampshire, 7 Somerset, 8 Warwickshire

Final: Gloucestershire 12 v Kent Rural 15
3rd/4th place play-off: Northumberland 0 v Surrey Metro 5
5th/6th place play-off: Hampshire 7 v Dorset & Wilts 12
7th/8th place play-off: Somerset 10 v Warwickshire 7

Semi-finals: Gloucestershire 12 v Northumberland 0, Kent Rural 22 v Surrey Metro 0

Quarter-finals: Gloucestershire 22 Somerset 7, Hampshire 0 Northumberland 14, Warwickshire 0 Kent Rural 17, Surrey Metro 17  Dorset & Wilts 12

Shield

Final standings: 1 Berkshire, 2 Surrey Rural, 3 Durham, 4 Bristol, 5 Devon, 6 Cumbria, 7 Oxfordshire, 8 Cornwall

Final: Berkshire 12 v Surrey Rural 7

3rd/4th place play-off: Durham 12 v Bristol 5
5th/6th place play-off: Cumbria 0 v Devon 5
7th/8th place play-off: Oxfordshire 22 v Cornwall 7

Semi-finals: Berkshire 7 v Durham 5, Bristol 0 v Surrey Rural 27

Quarter-finals: Berkshire 29 Cumbria 5, Durham 22 Oxfordshire 17, Bristol 5 Cornwall 0, Devon 12 Surrey Rural 12