Chinthurst School head of rugby William Beadle refused to be downcast despite missing out on the Sportsbeat School team of the year gong at the National Rugby Awards at Twickenham last week.

Chinthurst year three, who had a number of pupils in attendance at Twickenham, were shortlisted alongside Redcar Academy, Monmouth School, Bromsgrove and Kirkham Grammar School.

The top prize went to Wellington College, who were honoured having lost just one game of their XVs season - seven of their players achieved England U18 or U17 selection.

It was not a surprise Chinthurst had been given the nod to join the shortlist as they remained uunbeaten in every match and every festival they took part in, culminating in jointly winning the National Schools Rugby Tournament at Epsom College.

Beadle said: “They worked very hard and they were undefeated – that’s a fabulous achievement.

“We are a very small school. We try and promote it as much as we can though.

“We had 12 kids to choose from compared to others schools, who have 80, 90 or 100 kids so we picked seven out of 12 to literally play.

“They have beaten every team we’ve played, two festivals, won the national rugby tournament."

He added: “We pride ourselves within our sport. It just shows to everyone what can be done and events like the awards are the pinnacle of what it’s all about.

"The kids haven’t stopped smiling since they walked through the door.”

The National Rugby Awards are the brainchild of England skipper Chris Robshaw, who said: “I am honoured to be a part of an event that recognises the, often unheralded, work and achievements of those involved in rugby around the country.

“The Lawson Keys National Rugby Awards have the potential to be an outstanding evening for the rugby community and our goal is for this to become a permanent fixture in the sporting calendar.”

Lawson Keys sponsor the 2015 National Rugby Awards. Follow the Awards in The Rugby Paper therugbypaper.co.uk.