PUPILS at a Torfaen school were left in awe when a special guest, Wales rugby captain Sam Warburton, took time out of his busy schedule to accept a fundraising cheque.

The Wales and British Lions international player surprised hundreds of stunned Rougemont students, who were kept in the dark about his appearance after the school raised more than £14,000 for the Velindre Cancer Centre.

After praising both teachers and students for nearly doubling their initial target, Mr Warburton received the sum in his role as a patron of the South Wales cancer centre from student Ethan Mills.

Mr Warburton, 28, said: “It’s great to take time out and come to the school after they have raised a huge amount whilst showing some fantastic support for Velindre.

“Being patron means I can share in their success and both staff and students must be very impressed with the amount of money they have been able to raise. It’s nice to get out of the bubble of line-out drives and maul sessions.”

A total of 54 staff and students were part of the ‘Rougemont 50’ team led by maths teacher Andy Richards, raising the money through running the Newport marathon in March.

Mr Richards, 36, said: “It’s a proud day to present the cheque and have Sam here, it went down an absolute storm with everyone. Hopefully it will help inspire our schoolkids to get involved and raise more money for Velindre next time around.”

“It took a lot of time-out and work to organise and arrange a weekly running club. We all trained hard for the marathon and the students that couldn’t run took part in other ways such as marshalling.”

The day turned out to be quite a surprise for 17 year-old Ethan Mills, the house captain was only told in the morning that he would be presenting the cheque.

Mr Mills, said: “It has been absolutely surreal, he’s a Welsh icon and to stand there and present the cheque is a different sort of challenge.

“I was only told when I arrived to school so I wasn’t expecting it at all.”

After presenting the cheque, which beat the £8,500 Rougemont School raised two years ago, Mr Warburton stuck around for group pictures and selfies.

Head teacher Robert Carnvevale added: "The effort of our staff and pupils with the support of parents was immense.

"We are proud to present the cheque to Sam for such a worthy cause, delighted to hear him speak at a special assembly and hopes it inspires our younger children."