Crewe Touch Rugby's Blog

Just been told by Coppenhall that we can’t start there until the 7th of October. So for those who still fancy it we will be having a quick throw around until it gets dark from 6.30pm at Ruskin. Please let everyone know! Thanks.

Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who attended the meeting last night. Don’t want to single people out but I think Deb deserves praise for sorting us all out (as ever), Sarah & Andy for being honest, it’s not always easy in front of a group and Nial for being calmness personified (Ruskin have wisely recruited!) .

Going forward, Nial is going to look at the insurance I will get the “job specs” online with Deb’s help soon and Bri will sort out the coaching plan.

Sunday session is as normal this week but will look at future arrangements before Wed.

Next Wed night will be on the Astro @ Coppenhall, 6.30pm start. I will put a map up on the site and change the info before then.

As I mentioned last night it would be good to drag some new faces along for the Winter. Jules is going to try and work his magic with any local antipodeans and I will get some posters up.  If we could get Wed nights up to 20+ people we can really start to focus the training so that everyone gets what they want out of the session.

Finally, thanks for making it a great summer of Touch! I look forward to seeing you all with some +1′s under the floodlights in the freezing cold of Winter!

P.S. One last thing! Crazy Tom is leaving us to retreat back to warmer climates so it’s his leaving do on Sat night in Nantwich. See you all there.

The tournament will start on Saturday at approximately 12:30pm (Registration 11.30am) on the 3^rd Generation (3G) pitches at The Pavilion.

Each match lasts 20 minutes (10 minutes each way). Finish about 5pm.

The good news – it’s less than 40 miles away. The bad news its in the Rugby League home land! Lets hope the weather doesn’t get any better, I’m starting to like the rain!!

We are giving Gareth a lift but if anyone else needs a lift (if you trust our car!) just put a post below.

Take a look at this mixed video. There is plenty that we could replicate at the weekend. In particular Louis “back-up” strategy and a quick dump & scoop. England score most of their tries with a really simple quickie and a “Jules” dive!

What a great day! We eventually brought our own brand of “reggae rugby” to the North and managed to play some good rugby along the way!

For those of you who weren’t there:

We drew our first match 2-2 in a hard fought game against FeelGood. We probably had 80% of the territory but struggled in the final 5m. The driving was really good and the defence held up well against a far more experienced side.

Our second match was against the Percy Pirates. Featuring 2 England internationals they took us to the cleaners. The play of the ball was far quicker and as a result we ran around like headless chickens. However on a positive note we only lost 2-0.

Third up, an under strength Leigh side with only 1 sub = happy days! We won convincingly 7-1 with Gareth beating the ref to a 50m touch down and Bri scoring an imaginary diving try (No he did actually score, I just didn’t see it!). Well done to Ange, Lexi and Andy W who ran their hearts out for Leigh. 

Our fourth and most difficult match was against the eventual tournament winners, the imaginatively titled; Untouchables. Ironically they had quite a touch on them and it turned into a physical game. After being 2-0 down in the first minute we held our own for the majority of the match and only conceded another two, eventually loosing 4-0.

The final match of the day saw us come up against the Pie Munchers. Some quick hands and feet saw us win 5-2. With our two best try’s of the day coming from Jules and Nial. A great end to the day.

On reflection we did ourselves proud and learnt plenty as we head to Pendine this weekend.

Where do I start?! Firstly I think by thanking; Andy C, Tom, Carl, Jules, KA and Sian for doing us all proud. Especially KA and Sian for having to take on a bit more than “minimal touch”. If we can play with the same team spirit in Leeds and Pendine we can’t go wrong!

I’m sooooooooo glad we didn’t all head down for the tournament since it wasn’t Touch rugby as we know it, in fact it wasn’t any kind of rugby. The penny dropped in the first game when we lined up against 7 players and when I asked the ref what rules we were playing he said; HIS RULES!

There were dumper tackles, late tackles and even the occasional grubber kick! In the first game we lost to last years champions mainly because I didn’t stop complaining to the ref and secondly because their tries came from two “one handed touches” and an interception pass in which the player was standing behind me and I was the dummy half! Not that I’m bitter!

After our initial defeat and a dose of Valium I calmed down and we decide to play by “their” rules. This involved (to the crowds delight) us picking and driving with two players and scoring tries by diving through Tom’s legs. This sneaky tactic bought us a 3-2 victory against some pirates from Hong Kong! Carl scored a great try breaking through the middle and I scored a glorious try from 50m in which I beat every player of the opposition at least twice, ok, I exaggerated that slightly. I dived all of 30cm after Tom had crashed it up.

Our final match was a close run affair against the tournament organisers team. Unfortunately we narrowly lost 3-2 but put up a great fight and only lost because they scored between the markers.

In summary we still managed to have a great day despite the rules and it was a good “team building experience” but would not enter the tournament next year.

Things I learnt:

1. When in Wales I adopt a posh English accent – doesn’t help make friends!
2. Running is sand is hard work and side stepping is impossible.
3. Jules is still able to dive 10m in sand
4. Quick play of the ball is king!