SWAFFHAM, under the leadership of new skipper Louis Gunnell, began the 2009 season in fine style by winning the Cambridge round of the national Heineken Tens tournament at their first attempt.

SWAFFHAM, under the leadership of new skipper Louis Gunnell, began the 2009 season in fine style by winning the Cambridge round of the national Heineken Tens tournament at their first attempt.

The aim was to use the event as a fitness session in preparation for the new league season, but after they were victorious in their first two games against Colchester and Holt having amassed over 60 points with no reply, their competitive spirit kicked in.

A fine draw against Bury St Edmunds guaranteed their place in the top two of the group, and the players then eased off in the final game, losing by 20 points to Cambridge. Finishing second in the group gave them a tie against Shelford in the cup semi-final.

Shelford had finished top of their group, amassing a total of over 160 points in four games.

But Swaffham played their own style of rugby and some excellent defensive work kept the young guns down to just three tries and a conversion, in reply to Swaffham's three tries and two conversions. This gave them a superb 19-17 victory.

Swaffham had achieved their final place through excellent team work and support play, rather than solo brilliance.

The final was against Esculodians, an invitational side from London, and Swaffham knew that to play an open game against a side full of speedy ball players would be asking for trouble.

The crowd were treated to some awesome off-loads and possession rugby from Swaffham.

During that period both sides scored converted tries leaving it finely balanced at 7-7. In the second half it was the professional side that started to wane and some strong driving play by the Swaffham forwards eventually made the space for DJ Barnard to score under the posts for the winning try.

Esculodians tried to fight back at the end but their handling let them down and Swaffham ended with a 14-7 advantage.