Buckingham Bullets travelled to Burnham-On-Sea for the third consecutive Gullivers tournament in the hope of securing their hat trick of tournament wins. Allotted Pool A, the Bullets were to face some new opponents in Maidenhead Terminators, Sherborne, Cwmran and Bromley, with their old foe, Amersham, not at the tournament this year.

Securing good wins against Maidenhead (31-0), Bromley (22-5) and Sherborne (45-0) with dominant all round performances in all positions, Bullets went in to Sunday morning full of confidence for their match against Cwmran, opponent’s remembered from the Torquay tournament four years ago. This was always going to be a challenge but the Bullets played with confidence and won a hard fought contest, 19-10, to achieve their third semi-final place in as many years. Opponents for the semi final were Old Rutlishians from Merton Park in south London. Some huge players and fast runners, “ Ruts”, despite valiant defensive play and nine scrums in the first half, were just too strong for the Bullets team. Nil nil at half time was achievement in itself, but the Bullets conceded two break away tries in the second half to lose by 12-0 final score.

Marked by the referee and by Ruts themselves as “the best game of the tournament so far” it was a fitting conclusion to a well fought contest and to Bullets contribution to this tournament. Outstanding performances from everybody in the team, with some spectacular contributions from Dan Wells (top try scorer), Charlie Moss (evasive running) and the forwards for their defensive performance against Old Ruts in the semi-final. Player of the tournament: Dan Wells.

Thanks to coaches, John Horton, Rupert Shaw, Alex Moody and Simon Miles and tour manager Marcus Bell. Also thanks to shirt sponsor Executive Interviews.