A World Cup winner and one of England’s great flankers handed over the honours as some of the area’s up-and-coming sporting talent was recognised on Monday.

Neil Back was the guest of honour at Rickmansworth’s Watersmeet Theatre where the Three Rivers and Watford School Sports Partnership held their annual awards.

The audience were entertained as Back recalled a career that saw him make 339 appearances for Leicester Tigers over 15 years before taking on a coaching role with the club, represent the British and Irish Lions on three tours and win 66 caps for England, culminating in that November 2003 day in Sydney’s Telstra Stadium when Jonny Wilkinson kicked that memorable extra-time drop goal to beat Australia to win the World Cup.

Having displayed his World Cup winner’s medal, Back handed out prizes in ten categories to pupils nominated by their schools for their sporting achievements in the current academic year.

The Young Sportsmanship Award was presented as a roll of honour to children who displayed maximum effort, help others learn and demonstrate motivation and determination across all sports. The same format was also utilised for the Play Buddy and Play Buddy honours, awarded to those who demonstrated the commitment to involve others in sport and physical activity at school lunchtimes.

It was a successful evening for Royal Masonic School for Girls in the team awards, taking both the Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 to 5 categories for their excellence in gymnastics.

The former was won by the Acro pairs team, who were crowned national champions this year, while the Under-14 gymnastics team took the Key Stage 3 to 5 honour after they narrowly missed out on another national title for the school.

Fran Farlie made it an awards treble for Royal Masonic by claiming the Outstanding Young Leader of the Year. The other two leadership honours were clinched by students from St Joan of Arc School – Lewis Dickinson and Abigail Wildman.

Home Nations Development Squad gymnast Ondine Achampong repeated her achivement of 12 months ago by again winning the Key Stage 2 Outstanding Achivement Award. The Key Stage 3 to 5 prize went to Amber Campbell-White, a national Acro gymnastics champion who has become a member of Britain’s Got Talent winners Spellbound.

The Three Rivers and Watford partnership was formed in 2005 and is a collaboration of 48 infant, primary, secondary and special schools aimed at increasing opportunities in PE and school sport.

Hosted at Rickmansworth School, the partnership has organised 150 competitions in the current academic year while 1,500 students have participated in sports leadership courses.

Photographs from the event are available from www.willphoto.co.uk Awards winners and nominees Young Sportsmanship Award (roll of honour): Adam Bowers (Arnett Hills); Sasha Smith (Chorleywood); Daniel Dunton (Colnbrook); Oliver Mitchell Paterson (Divine Saviour); Joe Watson (Harvey Road); Owen Smith (Holy Rood); Finn Scannell (Little Green); Niamh Pinching (Maple Cross); Stephanie Bryer (Royal Masonic School); Evie Watson (Parkgate Junior); Niamh Betts (Sarratt); Adriano Pimentia (St Joseph’s); Georgia Brass (St Meryl); Mia Brown (Tanners Wood).

Key Stage 2 Team of the Year: 1, Royal Masonic Girls Acro Pairs Team; 2, Tanners Wood Girls Football Team; 3, Rickmansworth Park Year 3/4 Tennis Team. Also nominated: Divine Saviour Year 5 Hockey Team; Malvern Year 2 Athletics; Harvey Road Year 6 Tag Rugby Team; St Marys Year 6 Football Team; Orchard Year 6 Football Team.

Key Stage 3 to 5 Team of the Year: 1, Under-14 Gymnastics Team, Royal Masonic Girls; 2, Gymnastics Squad, Parmiters; 3, Under-14 Indoor Athletics Team, St Clement Danes. Also nominated: Girls Under-12 Five-A-Side Football Team, St Joan of Arc; Boys Under-12 Five-A-Side Football Team, St Joan of Arc; Girls Under-15 Cricket Squad, Rickmansworth; Year 10 Hockey Team, Royal Masonic Girls; Junior Swim Team, Royal Masonic Girls.

Play Buddy of the Year (roll of honour): Malvern Way Infant and Nursery School – Lauren Wood; Amber Dobson; Alayna Kahn; William Morrillo; Olivia Dalgliesh. Kingsway Infant School – Oliver Mee; Mercedes Garcia; Alfie Spray; Ellie Saunders; Angelica Lazauskaite.

Play Leader of the Year (roll of honour): Jodie Edwards (St Meryl); Niamh Whitham (Divine Saviour); Oliver McAuley (Little Green); Heather Ryan (Holy Rood); Emily Gauden (Rickmansworth Park); Charlotte Horwood (St Josephs); Imogen Law (Harvey Road); Dan Soryano (Arnett Hills); Thomas Uren (Orchard); Reuben Dumville (Maple Cross).

Emerging Leader of the Year: 1, Lewis Dickinson (St Joan of Arc); 2, Ella Godfrey (Royal Masonic Girls); 3, Conor Kimber (Francis Combe Academy).

Young Leader of the Year: 1, Abigail Wildman (St Joan of Arc); 2, Jamie Maberly (Rickmansworth); 3, Anna Liddleow (Parmiters). Also nominated: Anna Baker (Royal Masonic Girls).

Outstanding Young Leader of the Year: 1, Fran Farlie (Royal Masonic Girls); 2, Joe Cooke, Jack Cox, Shay Emerton and Kieron Irons (Parmiters); 3, Aisling Knight (St Joan of Arc).

Key Stage 2 Outstanding Achivement Award: 1, Ondine Achampong (Divine Saviour); 2, Holly Parkes (Rickmansworth Park); 3, Kayra Karakus (Tanners Wood). Also nominated: Freya Witheat (Royal Masonic Girls); Ben Green (Harvey Road); Rory Vorster (Maple Cross); Alvin Flemming (Holy Rood); Fleur Hines (St Joseph’s); Dan Ord (Parkgate Junior).

Key Stage 3 to 5 Oustanding Achievement Award: 1, Amber Campbell-White (St Clement Danes); 2, Haydn Williams (Parmiter’s); 3, Shannon Cooke (Rickmansworth). Also nominated: Zoe Ramsey (St Clement Danes); Remi Jessop (St Joan of Arc); Ceara Barber (Royal Masonic Girls); Max Pyatt (Francis Combe Academy); George O'Malley (St Joan of Arc); Matthew Brooks (St Clement Danes).