England rugby World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi saw Hillingdon’s rugby players take gold in the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games Under-19 male 7s competition at Barn Elms Sports Centre.

Hillingdon scored 116 points in their group – conceding 21 – before beating Barking & Dagenham 40-0 in the semi-final.

In the final they faced Kingston, who had also topped their group before edging past Hounslow 26-19 in the final four, with Hillingdon too strong and finishing comfortable 28-5 winners.

Chris Jepsen, Hillingdon team manager said: “The standard of rugby was very, very good. There was a mixed ability in terms of the students performing in this age group but I thought as the tournament progressed, the standard was very, very high and it goes to show that rugby is continuing to develop in the capital.”

Alphonsi, who competed in the London Youth Games for Enfield and is patron for the 2015 games, was impressed with what she saw on the day.

She added: “Today’s been absolutely fantastic. I think what’s great about today is having a real range of development so you’ve got your under-7s playing a bit of tag rugby, through to the under-13 girls and then you’ve got the senior boys so it’s been a really good day and the atmosphere has been really thriving and it’s pleasing to see rugby at its best.”

Earlier this month, at Westway Sports & Fitness Centre, the Hillingdon Boccia team qualified for a place in the mini boccia finals at Crystal Palace with victories over Brent, Hounslow, Harrow, Merton and Croydon.

Rugby and boccia are two of the 31 sports in the 2015 Balfour Beatty London Youth Games.

The London Youth Games is Europe’s largest annual youth sports event and is driving the legacy for increased participation in competitive sport and volunteering for young Londoners.

Some 126,897 young Londoners took part in the record-breaking 2014 Balfour Beatty London Youth Games, taking the event to more than a million participants since it launched in 1977.