Kettering brother and sister Ellis and Mia win gold with England

Mia was competing for the Girls 18 team and went on to play a huge role in their final success after they came through their league to make it through to the final-day knockouts.

Their semi-final against Ireland was straightforward enough as the unbeaten England team claimed a comfortable 5-0 victory.

That set up a final against Wales, which proved to be a close and dramatic encounter.

The two teams were level at 4-4 at the hooter but there was more drama to come in two minutes of extra-time.

Kettering’s Mia scored a try in the corner but Wales replied to ensure the match headed into a three-versus-three sudden death contest.

And Mia’s pass then put Phoebe Simon in the clear to score what proved to be the winning try as England grabbed the gold.

Ellis, meanwhile, was part of the Boys 18 team who went unbeaten across the three days of competition as they played a series of matches against Ireland.

England claimed 10-6, 10-5, 10-4 and 8-6 victories against Ireland while also defeating Wales 15-1 to come out on top.

The success for 17-year-old Mia came after she also won gold at the 2019 European Junior Championships in Paris as part of England’s Mixed 15 team,

She plays touch rugby for Cambridge where she was awarded female player of the year and junior female player of the year for 2021 and, having done her GCSEs at Kettering Buccleuch Academy, she is now at Hartpury College near Gloucester, studying PE & Coaching and is also part of their U18's Girls Rugby Academy and part of Gloucester-Hartpury Centre of Excellence for Union.

She also plays rugby union for Old Northamptonians U18s Girls Academy.

Fifteen-year-old Ellis attends Kettering Buccleuch Academy and also plays touch rugby for Cambridge and won male junior player for 2021.

He also plays rugby union for Old Northamptonians and is part of Northampton Saints’ under-15 PDG programme.