SAFE HAVEN

Rugby World attends WOODEN SPOON TAG FEST 2025 and discovers a rugby utopia for athletes with special needs

- ALAN PEAREY

WE'VE GOT Louis. He's very competitive, he'll put his game face on, his determination really shines through. He gets very tactical, pulls the team together. Cassius is a slightly older player as well who is very skilled, you can see how he's progressed. James as well, a real diehard, I think he's looking at collaborating more with Sale because there are more people of his age there. He's a young man.”

Kieran Lynch is providing a flavour of the rugby team he helps coach. “There's also Callum, a very dedicated player. His parents are there every week. And Paul's son Rory, very funny, likes to tell a story. We've got some young girls as well. Kathryn, fantastic, she's there every week.

“You see all their personalities coming out, which is lovely to see. You can see they're expressing themselves as individuals and where they sit within the team environment. It's wonderful.”

The team in question comes under the banner of Leicester Tigers Foundation and provides opportunities for those with Down's syndrome. It's one of just two UK rugby clubs, the other being Sale Sharks, that specifically caters for those with the genetic condition.

Lynch’s youngest son, 12-year-old Harrison, is part of the team. He used to play at the Peterborough club Deepings, which is very inclusive, but the gap in ability started to become too wide. Despite the lengthy drive from the family home in Baston, on the Lincolnshire-Cambridgeshire border, they decided to try out the team at Tigers that had been set up by Meg Kirby in 2023.

“Meg's got this contagious energy that ran through the whole team. Everyone felt welcome, everyone felt included, the kids really looked up to her. Her boyfriend, Nic Dolly (the ex-Tigers hooker now at Western Force), used to come regularly as well, supporting her and the team and the ethos that the Foundation was trying to generate.