Those of you familiar with last year’s tour know just how important the F Factor is to the age group coaches. It’s not easy spending all season hiding behind a thin veneer of sweaty rugby masculinity when secretly all you have ever wanted to do is sing and dance on stage. The F Factor is our tribute to them and their sexually ambiguous alter ego’s.

The judging was by its very nature idiosyncratic. Talent and preparation were summarily punished as was any hint of “on stage presence”. Tragedy, travesty, tears and triumph were all on display (and that was just in the dressing room). The fact that two age groups turned up as the same thing was, of course, priceless. Two sets of spice girls ready to claw each others eyes out. It very nearly kicked off…!

The acts were:

U7’s:‘Puppeteer’ sketch on getting up in the morning. Devious use of kids for “aah” factor backfired. Schoolboy error. Will learn for next year.
U8’s: Basic bribery of audience with sweets with a song attached .Shameless.
U9’s: Strictly scrum dancing. Just too good apparently.
U10’s: Spice Girls v1. Showed the importance of being “first to market”.
U11’s: Spice Girls v2. A better product but inevitably seen as “me too”
U12’s: Put the true horror into “rocky horror”. Will not be asked back.

The U10’s won by popular acclaim (i.e. their supporters shouted loudest). This provided a valuable life lesson to the kids namely the importance of having the judges and the compere in your pocket on such an occasion