World Cup Themed, Inter-Touch Group Tournament

The heavy rains of the previous days were absent as 28 touch players assembled under the floodlights – a good turn out. As Molly ran a warm up drill, the referees were marshalled for the night. Stepping up to the plate were; Cristy, Stefan, Chris, Charlie and Kenny, as refs we planned to be particularly strict on getting the ball back to the mark after a touch and making sure the defence got back the five metres. The plan was that all refs would rotate into the teams after reffing a game.

After the warm up drill finished, the teams were chosen – it's fair to say that the selection process was 'organic' but eventually we morphed into four fine looking squads named after nations still contesting the Rugby World Cup:
• Ireland
• Japan
• South Africa
• Wales

We had well balanced teams of six players with one or two subs and the games got under way with everyone in good spirits. All players seemed to be very disciplined with most people making an extra effort to get the ball back to the mark and defensive lines dropping back five. The standard was very high in all the games I saw, a fact born out by the experiences of others who reffed. The pace was fast and there was some real solid defensive lines that were hard to beat. The girls deserve a special mention who all showed great handling skills and attacking pressure moving forward. Just as we were all settling into a good rhythm, the floodlights went out, plunging everyone into darkness! Mercifully the break in play did not last long and were soon all back in action.

Group Tournament stats:
• Ireland: won 2 lost 1
• Japan: won 1, lost 2
• South Africa: won 3
• Wales: lost 3

PHOTO: 'Ireland' Proud Winners of the Inaugural Inter-Touch Group Tournament.
L to R: Drew, Stefan, Ben, Lisa, Rob, Front: Kenny

After playing all the matches, Wales squared up against Japan to contest the wooden spoon. A fast-moving and high scoring game delivered a victory for Wales, the final score was Wales 7, Japan 3 so the wooden spoon went to Japan.

In the final between South Africa and Ireland, the first half finished on South Africa 1, Ireland 0. But the second half saw the Irish fight back and the match ended 3:1 with Ireland being crowned tournament champions. Prizes of luxury Touch Group goodie bags were handed out to all members of the winning team and many of us retreated into the bar.

Final: Ireland 3: South Africa 1
Wooden Spoon: Wales 7: Japan 3

It was a superb night of touch with the healthy element of competition adding a bit of extra spice. Well done to everyone who played and the refs for stepping up and Kenny for organising.

As the feedback was really good we plan to hold an inter-club competition like this on a regular basis.

Charlie.