Cook was in action for Reading Abbey Under 12s at their own ground as London Irish hosted their leg of the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup, the first national grassroots tournament officiated by Premiership Rugby.

More than 7,000 youngsters will participate over the 12 legs, one for each top-flight English club, as they go in search of a sport in the ‘Parade of Champions’ during half-time of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final.

And Cook made sure to put his name down on the guest list as he and Abbey U12 came out on top in an enthralling final with Oxford Harlequins – the 11-year-old insisting he could not be more proud.

“I think teamwork was a big reason why we won,” he said. “I’m really excited that we get a chance to walk out at Twickenham because I’ve never been to the stadium before.

“I like the determination of my team. We were about to concede a try but we all jumped on the ball and held it up until the end of the game so they didn’t score – it’s important to never give up.

“I love tournaments like this because you can get really muddy and just have fun with all your friends. I’m really happy, especially to have represented the club and won at our home tournament.” Reading Abbey also had two Under 11 teams take to the field and were joined in getting a piece of the action by Tadley, who put out an Under 12s side but just failed to make the final.

Tadley captain Dominic Kerevan, 11, said: “I like seeing the team happy at festivals like this and enjoying playing rugby.

“We have a really good team but there is always something to improve on. Our coach just tells us to make sure we enjoy our games and make sure we give 100 per cent.” Casting an eye over proceedings were London Irish Academy players Ross Neal and Cameron Cowell.

The latter said: “Days like these are massively important for the younger guys. I used to come down to tournaments like these when I was younger.

“To play on the professional pitch and to go to the finals I remember was a great day out and I loved it.” Land Rover supports grassroots rugby and provides the opportunity for over 7,000 youngsters to take part in the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup each season. Keep up to date with the latest Land Rover rugby activity by following @LandRoverRugby on Twitter.