Saracens Masters Touch Competition

It was a cold, wind swept day in North London. Some would say it was the pinnacle of the autumn rugby programme in the Northern Hemisphere. The North London/South Herts Masters (over 35s) Mixed Touch Rugby tournament was held at the Stonex stadium.

Organised and hosted by Saracens Touch Rugby, 8 teams arrived to do battle. Two pools of 4 played round robin fixtures, to rank a play off round and crown a winner.

Bishops Stortford Touch traveled with a confident squad, ready to test their skill and training against others in a competitive arena. Sadly, they traveled with no women in our squad (which meant starting each game with a 2 try penalty).

The much maligned drill elements that start Wednesday evenings came to the fore. Three man drives, scoops, drop offs and even the occasional chop led to BSRFC being talked about as favourites to make the 1vs2 game that would eventually crown the tournament champions.

Each pool had a mix of teams who where well drilled, and some testing their metal at a touch tournament for the first time.

It quickly became an afternoon in which 3 games led to 3 wins - with not even the pre match penalties getting in the way of BSRFC fulfilling their early tournament billing and reaching the 1vs2 game.

In truth the more experienced squads both made the final - with Gold and Green, a team based in Golders Green and regular attenders of the ETA national championship framework, charting a similar path in their pool to the 1vs2 game.

In a closely fought final game, in which the best touch rugby of the tournament was played, Gold and Green eventually ran out 3-1 winners.

The presentation festivities including awarding the tournament MVP (for both men and women). Chosen by referees and opposing coaches/captains Peter Kelly was the unanimous choice as the Male MVP. Well done Pete!

So all that remains is to think about what we could do better next time (a bigger squad with more women in it!) and to plan for the new year. A great day, a great game and great way to make new friends from all across the region. Thanks to Saracens for organising a great comp and congratulations to Gold and Green.