The squad of 24 players, and 16 support staff, that set off for the coastal resort of Noordwijk on Maundy Thursday were able to relax (some to a far greater extent than others) on a thankfully calm ferry crossing from North Shields.

A day in Amsterdam, with the inevitable search for Anne Frank and other Dutch ladies, preceded the main business, but the next morning, the experience of the passengers was able to coax the coach into life and it eventually got us to The Hague and the home grounds of WRC Haaglanden, hosts for the next two days.

As it turned out Mowden were not to only ones to arrive slightly behind schedule, and the organisers did a valiant job of getting the day's proceedings moving along with a minimum of disruption.

The Dutch Rugby Union has made great strides in popularising rugby in the Netherlands, but it is still a minority sport. With this in mind, it is perhaps less surprising that the tournament at Under-17 level comprised one Dutch and six English teams, although there was a Welsh representative in the younger age groups. The format was two halves of 12 minutes.

Mowden Park's first adversaries then were East Grinstead. The first half was tight, with Mowden Park making to majority of the play, although Grinstead applied pressure as half time approached. No score was made until the second half, when lock forward Chris Millington went over following a penalty ten metres out, and fly half Jason Todd converted. East Grinstead were unable to answer and the final score was DMP 7, East Grinstead 0.

Just over an hour later, Worthing were the next victims in a slightly bad-tempered match with DMP in the ascendancy throughout. Full back Jason Elliott opened the scoring with a typical jinxing run into the corner, and Chris Dodd added the second try from a 5-metre scrum after a switch with Adam Hunt. Jason Todd converted. Jason Elliott completed the first half scoring when he made a very forceful run down other wing again to score in the corner. In the second half, Jason Todd chipped over the Worthing line, and centre Adam Hunt collected and ran through to score. Jason Todd again converted, to leave the final score DMP 24, Worthing 0.

The final match on the Saturday was against Upminster and was dominated by the Mowden pack. Jason Elliott was stopped just short of the line and from the resultant scrum Chris Dodd scored under the posts. A few minutes later, some of the best pack work of the competition through six phrases set up a scrum and quick ball set up Adam Hunt to run through and score. In the second half, Jason Elliott made a breakaway and scored under the posts for Jason Todd to convert. The final score was DMP 17, Upminster 0

The aftermath of three nights of cultural studies made its effect shown on the Sunday, and the lads were that much slower to warm up. Nonetheless, they came through a tense match with Twickenham to win by a penalty kick from Jason Todd, and had to face perhaps their hardest match from the mixed-age Dutch squad, who pressured hard throughout, and were the only team to breach the Mowden defences. Five minutes in, Chris Dodd broke from the rear of a 5-metre scrum, and scored for Jason Todd to convert. Haaglanden replied with a good attacking move through several phases and a penalty to score ten metres from the posts, and had no difficulty converting it. It was not until the second half that Mowden asserted their authority, and a penalty kick from Jason Todd put them ahead. Five minutes later, Chris Dodd was injured in a tackle, and went to the sidelines looking stunned, only to return to take up his No. 8 position in a scrum, gather from the rear and charge 55 metres to score under the posts, for Jason Todd to convert. This so demoralised the Dutchmen that they could make no further headway, and the final score was DMP 17, WRC Haaglanden 7.

The final match against Crowborough was a hard-fought, well-contested but tired affair with neither side bothering to trouble the scorer. Crowborough spurned good chances when they elected to run the ball rather than take the easy penalty kick, but otherwise nobody really looked like scoring. The outcome, though, was that Darlington Mowden Park emerged as the unassailable winners of the tournament with 11 points from 12.

With the ferry's sailing time approaching all remained was the presentation by club secretary Nico van der Wetering and a swift departure for Ijmuiden. The organisers had scheduled the matches so that all went smoothly, and everyone involved was delighted with a most enjoyable festival of rugby. Darlington Mowden Park Under 17s had brought home the trophy to the North-East.