RUGBY World Cup winner England rugby star Mike Tindall was at North Tawton RFC last week to lead a specialist training session after the club was announced the winner of a national grassroots rugby competition.

Members of North Tawton first team, who play in the South West Tribute Devon two division, trained under the guidance of former England centre Mike Tindall courtesy of business insurance specialist QBE.

The club is one of four grassroots rugby clubs across the country to be awarded a QBE Hit Squad coach to mentor a club for this season.

Mike Tindall worked alongside Gloucester Rugby's forwards' coach, Andrew Stanley, and the current North Tawton RFC coaches during an exclusive one-on-one training session at North Tawton RFC to focus on developing key skills to help improve the club's performance in key areas both on and off the pitch throughout the season.

North Tawton RFC will further benefit from Mike Tindall's expertise through his attendance at the club's final home match of the season. The club will also have the opportunity to attend an open day with members of the England Rugby backroom staff who will be on hand to offer their rugby knowledge, expertise and coaching best practice to further enhance the club's development.

The prize was awarded to clubs who best demonstrated the benefits of receiving expert guidance from top professional coaches. The judges were particularly impressed with the progress made by North Tawton RFC's first team in recent seasons despite having such a young team, combined with their willingness to learn and seek advice from a professional player turned coach. The judges felt that with the correct advice and expertise from a QBE Hit Squad coach, North Tawton RFC can develop the necessary skills to assist in improving the club's performance in key areas for the remainder of the season.

Speaking at the special training session, Mike Tindall, the current Gloucester player/coach and 2003 Rugby World Cup winner, said: 'We went back to the core basic skills with the North Tawton RFC to ensure I passed on best practice coaching and technical advice. The QBE Hit Squad session has been a great platform for me to give back to the grassroots game and to pass on my knowledge and expertise from both playing and coaching professional rugby.'

Simon Quick, first XV head coach at North Tawton, added: 'It's fantastic to win QBE Hit Squad. To get the opportunity to learn from Mike Tindall is great for the club and utilising his coaching expertise and experiences in rugby will only benefit us as a club.'