Jason Leonard used to dish it out during his record-breaking England international rugby career. And he was dishing it up at Warlingham RFC on Sunday
Warlingham rugby club’s recruitment of kitchen staff appears to be thriving, as last weekend they had World Cup-winning prop forward Jason Leonard dishing up the food at an international mini festival for eight- to 12-year-olds staged at Hamsey Green.
Teams from Stade Francais in Paris and Arquitectura in Madrid joined more than 300 youngsters, with players from Old Dartfordians, Dorking, Haywards Heath and Sutton and Epsom also taking part.
Tellingly for Leonard, the winner of four Grand Slams in his 119 international appearances for England and the British and Irish Lions, none of the young players taking part on Sunday were even born on the famous day in November 2003 when he, Martin Johnson, Jonny Wilkinson and all their team mates lifted the World Cup in Sydney.
Jason Leonard speaking to the players and parents at Warlingham’s mini-rugby festival on Sunday
Leonard was on hand on Sunday to hand out new trophies and medals to this new generation of rugby players, and to give words of advice and encouragement to the players, their parents and the coaches and other volunteers.
“There’s a lot of hard work put in by lots of volunteers to get the festival up and running but it’s well worth the effort to see all these youngsters really enjoying their rugby and meeting such an icon as Jason Leonard,” said Peter Jerrom, the festival organiser.
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