St Joseph’s were crowned Lebanese schools champions at the weekend following their dramatic extra time victory against Balamand. Playing in front  of their home crowd, St Joseph’s, winners of the Beirut regional competition, were pegged back 10-10 by Balamand, winners of the north Lebanon regional competition.

In extra time the home side registered two tries to take the match 22-10. LRLF chief operating officer Remond Safi was thrilled by the match: “This is truly an exciting moment. We can see the games played at the grass roots level and embedding as part of these young kids’ daily lives.”