St Ives Rugby Club will welcome boys and girls teams from far and wide to launch the season on Saturday (September 3), followed by Mini and junior registration on Sunday.

The second “Launch Weekend” at Somersham Road organised by Tony Wadd will see 7s tournaments for boys colts and the newly formed girls section, with the latter hosting under-14 and under-16 teams from as far as Hinckley and Biggleswade.

Matches start at 10am and run until mid-afternoon, with fun for all the family including bouncy castles, food trucks and even circus skills on display.

The seniors take over at 3pm as the Bulls face Market Bosworth in their first league match in the new Counties One Midlands East (S) division and head Coach Paul Humphreys is excited by the prospect.

“We had a great runout last week versus Rushden & Higham (winning 28-17) where we were able to test new combinations in many positions and welcome new players to the club. There are now some tough selection calls to make this week, so competition for places is already hot,” he said.

A St Ives Legends XV meet Cambs Barbarians at 5.30pm, with a number of more senior players making their way back to rugby after taking an enforced break, and high skill levels are expected.

A disco and karaoke will continue into the night before Sunday sees the mini and junior section welcome new players aged six and upwards to register at the club from 10am.

Rugby is available to boys and girls across all age groups and the coaches look forward to new faces joining those already enjoying their times at St. Ives.

Chairman Ross Thompson added: "This year promises to be bigger and better than the last and we hope all will have a fantastic day. Weekends are for rugby and I’m ecstatic they have returned once again!"