Rhino was proud to be one of the lead sponsors of the inaugural Piotrowice Nyskie International Rugby Festival in Silesia, Poland held over the first weekend in September. The Rhino Trophy for the Women’s Sevens part of the tournament was won by a strong Romanian team who defeated Poland’s strongest club side Lechia Gdansk 26-5 in the final of a very keenly contested event.
The Mens Sevens Tournament was sponsored by Rule Financial and was won by Austria who defeated the Czech Republic 28-21 in a strong field which featured a late entry from a side from Loughborough University. The Mens social XV’s tournament was won by the Kew Occasionals, including Rhino’s Jamie Doubleday, who defeated Vienna Celtics 35-3 and the Warsaw Frogs 27-14 to win the Jones Lang LaSalle Trophy.
Over 300 people attended the presentation party, from 23 different nationalities in what was a truly international event. Tribute must be paid to hosts Jim and Anna Parton, whose dream the Festival was for pulling off a remarkable inaugural event. Their Silesian schloss, a former Summer Palace for the Prince Bishops of Breslau, the barns and fields of which accommodated the participants Glastonbury-style, was a memorable venue and this looks likely to become not only an annual event but quite possibly a cult one.
The Romanian and Lechia Gdansk teams after the final with host Jim Parton.
Celebrations after receiving the Rhino Trophy.
Schloss Parton.