RUGBY World Cup fever was embraced by hundreds of youngsters at an action-packed tag rugby festival.

More than 200 children from 17 primary schools across the Salisbury area each represented one of the competing countries on Tuesday.

The players, aged nine to 11 years old, wore the corresponding country’s emblem on their back during each game, which lasted seven minutes.

The grim weather at the beginning of the day soon gave way to bright sunshine, with games taking place on all six pitches.

Each game was supervised by Salisbury Rugby Club’s thriving mini section , supported by Bath Rugby Foundation coaches and staff .

Bulford St Leonards, representing Tonga, won the cup for playing in the best spirit of rugby.

Greentrees Primary, as Australia, were runners-up,

Bob Carr, who helped organise the event, said it was a great success and saw many players with real potential.

“It was a real delight to see how keenly the children supported their country with flags and banners and there are definitely one or two young players I saw who have the potential to be international players themselves one day,” he said.

“The kids were all a credit to themselves, teachers and their school. Hopefully we’ll be able to see them all wearing their t-shirts around the city over the next six weeks.”

“Salisbury Rugby club hopes to see many of the youngsters turn up on their Sunday morning mini-rugby training days and would like to thank the teachers and staff of all the schools who helped keep the day running smoothly.”

The day was supported by Salisbury Rugby Club and Wiltshire Council.

The World Cup kicks off tomorrow at Twickenham as host nation England play Fiji (8pm).