International rugby stars past and present were among the huge numbers of people who turned up at Old Patesians to pay tribute to one of the club’s favourite sons.

England stars Jonny May, Mark Atkinson and Willi Heinz, along with ex-Wales player Owen Williams, were at Everest Road for a special day in memory of former player and club president David ‘Taff’ Powell.

The Taff Powell Memorial Game between Bournside ex-Patesians, captained by Jon Steckbeck, and Will Morgan’s Rest of the World XV was just the start of the celebrations – celebrations that saw the back bar at the club renamed Taff’s Bar – that went long into Saturday evening.

“There were hundreds of people there,” said Will Morgan, “and everyone would have called Taff a friend. It was a great day, he was a very special man, I can’t speak highly enough of him.”

The two teams of former players, many of whom hadn’t played for a number of years, kickstarted the day of celebrations and, appropriately enough, it was Bournside ex-Patesians – Taff was a teacher at Bournside – who claimed the bragging rights, winning three tries to one.

“It was torrential weather,” said Will Morgan. “We were going to play four 15-minute quarters but we cut it to three, that was quite enough for our old bodies! I played rugby for 30 years and I’ve never known it so wet, so cold and so windy.

“But it was great fun, although I think there will have been a lot of sore heads and sore bodies on Sunday morning.”

There were suggestions in the build-up that the Taff Powell Memorial Game will become an annual event and Morgan confirmed that was a possibility, before adding with a laugh: “I don’t think anyone was put off on Saturday but if we do play again we need to play in September or in the Spring!”

What made the day extra special was that the teams included Taff’s sons Dave and Rich and his grandsons Will and Joe, while Taff’s great nephew, Jake Whyte, travelled down from Yorkshire to play.

And even those too young to play were fully involved because Taff’s great-grandson, Ted Powell, blew the whistle to start the game.

“It was an epic day, magnificently attended. It’s testament to how highly regarded my father was,” said Dave Powell.

“On behalf of Taff’s family I’d like to thank everyone who helped to make the day so perfect – Jon Steckbeck, Will Morgan, Ralph Tucker and Matt Cape who made the rugby happen, Di Kingscott, Claire and Rob and all the staff and everyone at the club, Owen Williams for opening Taff’s Bar, and Jonny May, Mark Atkinson and Willi Heinz for supporting us as well.”

Taff Powell died in December 2020 at the age of 83 and Dave Powell, who has been going to the club since the age of four, would certainly be happy to lace up his boots again to play in his dad’s memory.

“I thoroughly enjoyed it,” he said. “It was a very well-natured game, hopefully there will be a repeat, although I might do a bit of training next time!”